Lower Court’s Discretionary Refusal Was Not Erroneous.
Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6 does give a lower court discretionary authority to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party in a harassment order proceeding.
In Quiggle v. Franke, Case No. D057982 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 16, 2011) (unpublished), the lower court did issue a 3-year protective order to plaintiff due to harassing emails sent by a co-worker. However, the court refused to award fees to plaintiff.
No abuse of discretion, said the appellate court. The lower court denied the request because it believed that plaintiff was really using the proceeding to obtain collateral benefit in a separate suit against the employer. No error in denying fees under the circumstances, ruled the Court of Appeal.