AB 1961: Civil actions: protective orders: workplace violence.

Existing law authorizes an employer or collective bargaining representative of an employee who has suffered harassment, unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence from any individual, to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of the employee and, at the discretion of the court, any number of other employees at the workplace or at other workplaces of the employer. Existing law authorizes one or more representative parties to bring suit for the benefit of a class of parties if the question is one of a common or general interest, of many persons, or when the parties are numerous, and it is impracticable to bring them all before the court.

This bill would authorize an employer to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of a reasonably identifiable group or class of employees if a credible threat of violence is generally directed at the employers workplace or at the employers employees. The bill would not require an employer to name any individual employee as a protected party if the employer seeks a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of a group or class of employees.