Ehrlich

DISCUSSION

Defendant challenges the civil harassment restraining order entered against him on July 13, 2012 pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6 on the ground that the order was not supported by competent, clear and convincing evidence.4 For reasons discussed below, we disagree. To obtain a civil harassment restraining order pursuant to section 527.6, a plaintiff must show by clear and convincing evidence that he or she has been “harassed,” meaning subjected to “a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person, and which serves no legitimate purpose.” Further, the identified course of conduct must be such that a reasonable person would, as a result, suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause the plaintiff to suffer substantial emotional distress. (§ 527.6, subds. (a), (b), (d).)5 “ ‘Section 527.6 was passed to supplement the existing common law torts of invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress by providing quick relief to harassment victims threatened with great or irreparable injury. [Citation.] It was

4 Unless otherwise stated, all statutory…