Method 2. Make copies of any documents that support your application. If you have documents, such as letters from your harasser, that are evidence of their behavior towards you, make copies that you can submit to the court along with your application for a restraining order. These documents can serve as evidence to prove your harasser's pattern of behavior towards you. If you have any digital documents, you can print those to include with your application. However, don't delete the original digital file.
For online messages or text messages, you may want to take screenshots that you can print and include with your application for a restraining order.
Go to your nearest court and ask the clerk for an application. The clerk at your local courthouse will have an application you can fill out to apply for a restraining order. The restraining order will keep your harasser from contacting you or coming near you, your home, or anywhere you work or go to school. You may also be able to get a restraining order application at your local police or sheriff's department or at the office of a nonprofit organization that assists victims of abuse and harassment.
Fill out your application neatly and completely. Typically you'll need to fill out the application by hand. Print your answers neatly and legibly.
Answer all the questions on the application as completely and honestly as possible. Don't write in the margins of the page — if you need additional sheets of paper to provide a complete answer to any questions, let the clerk know. If there was anyone else around who you know when an incident of harassment took place, include their names in your application. If you have evidence of any of the harasser's conduct, mention this specifically in your application.
File your documents with the clerk of court. Make two photocopies of your completed application, then take your original application, copy, and any other documents you want to file with it to the clerk's office.
The clerk will file-stamp your original and copy and give a copy back to you for your records. The original is for the court files and the other copy will be delivered to your harasser. The clerk may also have you fill out a summons to deliver to your harasser along with the application. Include as much information as you know. If you don't know your harasser's address, let the clerk know.
Talk to a judge about your situation. After you file your application, a judge will ask you questions about the harassment you're experiencing. The judge will likely grant a temporary restraining order if you feel the person is an immediate and continuing threat to your physical and mental wellbeing.
Always answer the judge's questions honestly. If you don't know the answer to something, simply tell them you don't know. If it's necessary information, the judge may be able to help you locate resources that can help you.
Have the person harassing you served with the temporary order. After the judge issues the temporary order, your harasser must have notice of it so they can tell the judge their side of the story. Typically, a sheriff's deputy will take the papers to the person. They can help locate the person.
Participate in the final hearing to make your temporary order permanent. Your harasser has the right to come to court and defend themselves. If you want to make your temporary order permanent, you'll have to go to a court hearing. Your harasser may be there, so it's a good idea to take a friend or family member along for moral support. Keep your eyes on the judge and always address the judge when speaking. If your harasser tries to talk to you, do your best to ignore them and avoid crosstalk.
Once you have a permanent order, make copies of it and take it to all the places you frequent, such as your school or workplace. Make sure the person in charge of security or another administrator has a copy of it. If your harasser is not someone who is known to those people, you might also include a photo of the person so they'll know if they show up.
Method 3. Talk to an attorney who specializes in civil harassment cases. Civil harassment cases can be very complex. If you decide you want to sue your harasser, it's generally best to hire an attorney who will represent you in court and draft all your documents for you.
Depending on the reason you're being harassed, you may also be able to find an attorney at a nonprofit organization that is willing to represent you free of charge. For example, if you are being harassed because of your religion, you might look for a nonprofit organization that defends the right to freedom of religion.
You stand a better chance of proving harassment in a civil court than a criminal court because you don't have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the conduct occurred.
Even if your evidence wouldn't be enough to get a criminal conviction, you may still be able to win in civil court. You would also need to prove that the messages came from a phone that your harasser controlled and that they sent them and not someone else.
Your attorney will work on these details. Collect evidence of the damage the harassment has caused you. Civil lawsuits are typically filed asking for money to cover the damage the person did to you. Regardless of whether your damage is physical or emotional, you still need evidence so you can put a price tag on how much that damage is worth. If you are taking anti-anxiety medication, the cost of that would also be part of your damages. If you notice that the harasser is following you outside the working hours, you need to act fast and find a way to stop a stalker.
Both offline and online stalkers often referred to as cyber stalkers harass and intimidate their victims. Harassing phone calls can also be considered stalking. If the situation gets out of control, you can get protection through a restraining order. Just because someone is being mean to you at work, or you hear a bad joke, it does not mean you are being subjected to harassment.
What you interpret as a hostile work environment comment, another person can roll right off their back and not find it insulting.
If two coworkers are debating something in a private conversation at work, the situation is not unwelcome if the participants don't feel threatened or offended. If you are a third person listening to the conversation, and you find it offended in any way—it means that the actions of your coworkers are creating a hostile environment for you. A hostile work environment is complicated to prove because it calls for a series of events that need to occur over a period of time.
Apart from being offensive to an individual, the law requires that a reasonable person also finds it offensive. You can always try to write a letter to the harasser, and explain to them how their actions are affecting you.
If you prefer to make a disclosure to somebody else, write a workplace harassment complaint letter and provide as much information as you can. Writing a harassment letter can take some time if you want to do it properly. It is essential to word the letter carefully, so that it is clear. How you phrase this letter depends on the circumstances of a specific situation, but it needs to get the point across. An employee guide can provide you with the information about workplace policies as well as rules against harassment.
If you still feel like you need more guidelines, make sure to contact the Human Resource department to obtain more information. Do not write the complaint letter while you are enraged. The ultimate goal is to get the results and not just get the anger out of your system. To achieve that goal, you need to keep the letter calm, factual, and respectful. If you wrote the letter while still angry, throw it away, and write another one. You will be able to state your case in a more comprehensive manner, once you cool off.
Even if you feel seriously aggravated by the situation, do not write too long a letter. Keep it short, simple, and concise. You should write your letter in a formal business style. Do not write it using all uppercase—it is not appropriate regardless of how offended you may feel. It is essential that you remain courteous at all times. The letter should not contain any threats, sarcasm, vulgarity, or offensive language. In some cases, such letters can be ignored entirely. Bear in mind that the person reading the letter is not responsible for the problem.
If you have the name of a person you are sending the letter to, use it. These honorific titles show respect and are more favorable than the distant-sounding—To whom it may concern.
Even though the letter should not be long, you need to provide all the facts about the harassment. Do not leave out any relevant details and rely on the reader to make assumptions about the situation. If you include enough information in your letter, you will help with the investigation and inquiry. It would be highly useful if you added the consequences of the harassment to your mental or physical state stress, embarrassment, injuries. If you want to prevail in a harassment case, you need to prove that the behavior of your coworker was so severe that it changed the working conditions and created an environment that you find abusive or hostile.
It is essential that you write down everything while your memory is still fresh. For example, if the person has been leaving harassing phone calls on voicemail, the victim can bring the telephone or a recording of the messages to the police. Victims who have been harassed through the U. If the victim received harassing messages online, the police will find printed hard copies of those communications useful. Thus, it's also prudent for victims to bring their smartphones or laptops to show the relevant websites or social media accounts to the police upon request.
However, copies of all documents delivered to law enforcement should be made first, in case the police want to keep the originals.
Once they receive allegations of harassment, the police will investigate the charges thoroughly. If law enforcement officials arrest the person sending the harassing communications, the law requires them to disclose the victim's name to the arrestee. If a victim believes that will create an added risk of harm, it's important that the police be given this information. Law enforement officials may also be able to offer additional advice about increasing personal safety and how victims may protect themselves and their property from the harasser while the case is being investigated.
In addition to referring the matter to law enforcement for criminal charges, victims of harassment may also wish to consider seeking a restraining order if they are concerned that the harassment will continue. A restraining order is a document signed by a judge that legally bars the person from contacting or coming within a specified distance of the victim usually feet or so , or engaging in any further harassment. An attorney can talk a victim through the legal process of obtaining a restraining order.
Judges may issue these orders temporarily on an ex parte basis, that is, without notice to the harasser, especially when the victim has initiated criminal proceedings against the individual. Annie Sisk is a freelance writer who lives in upstate New York.
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