CSV Hospitality Mgmt. LLC v. Lucas, 84 Cal. App. 5th 117 (2022)

CSV Hospitality Management LLC obtained a restraining order under the Workplace Violence Safety Act against Jermorio Lucas who was living at the Aranda Residence, a residential hotel that provides supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals.  In support of its petition against Lucas, CSV submitted affidavits from four of its employees establishing that Lucas had been “very aggressive and confrontational” towards other tenants and Aranda Residence employees.  Among other things, Lucas verbally abused employees while they were working, stalked them, took photos and videos of them without their consent, and even forcefully pushed one of the employees into a window.  The trial court granted a temporary restraining order against Lucas and set the matter for an evidentiary hearing.  The trial judge denied Lucas’s counsel’s request to cross examine CSV’s witnesses and ordered Lucas to refrain from harassing, threatening, following or contacting CSV’s employees and Lucas was forbidden from possessing a firearm.  The Court of Appeal reversed the workplace violence restraining order due to the denial of Lucas’s due process right to cross examine one of CSV’s witnesses.