DeHarpport v. Johnson

348 P.3d 1192, 270 Or. App. 681, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 526
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 6, 2015
Docket11CV0423; A154963
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 348 P.3d 1192 (DeHarpport v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DeHarpport v. Johnson, 348 P.3d 1192, 270 Or. App. 681, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 526 (Or. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

DEVORE, P. J.

Plaintiff appeals after the trial court dismissed her tort claims on summary judgment. Plaintiff had been a caregiver for a woman in defendant’s home. Plaintiff brought claims against defendant for providing an unsafe workplace in violation of ORS 654.015, negligence related to risk from defendant’s son, intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), and wrongful initiation of civil proceedings based on an abuse prevention order that defendant initiated against plaintiff. On appeal, plaintiff assigns several errors relating to her workplace, IIED, and wrongful initiation of civil proceedings claims. We reject without published discussion all assignments of error except her assignment concerning the wrongful initiation claim. On that claim, we conclude there were genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment. We reverse and remand.

When reviewing an order granting a motion for summary judgment, we view the record in the light most favorable to the adverse party. Dial Temporary Help Service v. DLF Int’l Seeds, 255 Or App 609, 610, 298 P3d 1234 (2013) (citing Jones v. General Motors Corp., 325 Or 404, 420, 939 P2d 608 (1997)).

Plaintiff was engaged by the Department of Human Services to provide homecare services to defendant’s domestic partner. Plaintiff was not engaged to provide care for defendant. In a declaration, plaintiff reported that she got along well with the woman for whom she cared and that there were no problems between plaintiff and defendant “except for [his] sexual advances.” Plaintiff recounted that, on an undescribed date, defendant “pinched me on my left nipple and I hit him and told him not to ever make such sexual contact again or he would be sorry.” She told him that she had a boyfriend, in the hope that it would discourage his sexual advances.

Early in the spring of 2011, defendant’s son moved into the home, bringing several guns with him. Defendant told plaintiff that his son was mentally unstable and had a felony conviction. While she was working in the home on May 11, a heated argument erupted between defendant and his son. The men struggled over possession of a gun. The son [683]*683fired the gun in the direction of defendant and, at another point, the gun was pointed in plaintiff’s direction. When plaintiff tried to call 9-1-1, defendant’s son “body slammed” her to the floor and ripped the telephone off the wall. The son told her not to call the police, because he did not want to go to jail. Defendant asked her not to call, too, but she used her cell phone to reach the police, who intervened.

After the May 11 incident, plaintiff stopped home-care for the woman and never returned to defendant’s house. Defendant asked plaintiff not to quit. On June 6, 2011, plaintiff filed a complaint in circuit court against defendant alleging tort claims based on defendant allowing his son to live in the house with a firearm. On June 20, defendant attempted to telephone plaintiff, and, when she did not answer, he sent her the following text messages:

“Tambri, are u suing me? I’d like to know why? Call me please.
“Is this all you have been about is money. You’re a real piece of work dearie.”

During this time, plaintiff did not call defendant, did not initiate any contact with him, and was not in his presence.

Two days later, on June 22, defendant petitioned for a restraining order against plaintiff, invoking ORS 124.005 to 124.040, the Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities Abuse Prevention Act (Abuse Prevention Act or Act). Defendant alleged that he was a disabled person.1 And, he alleged that plaintiff provided care both for defendant and for his domestic partner. He attested, among other things, that plaintiff caused him physical harm by withholding services necessary for his well-being; willfully causing him physical injury; taking his money or property; threatening to have her boyfriend injure him and his domestic partner; and proposing to insure the life of his domestic partner, provide lethal medications, and take 75 percent of the insurance proceeds. Defendant represented that plaintiff had been convicted in a [684]*684prostitution sting operation and that she continued to advertise as an escort for adult entertainment on an Internet web site. As an exhibit, he attached a posting on the site from a “Vickie” with a photograph of part of a nude body.

As provided in ORS 124.020(1), defendant’s petition was granted ex parte, and a restraining order was served upon plaintiff. In response, plaintiff moved for a hearing and denied nearly all of the allegations in the petition. She denied that she provided care for defendant or had any duty to provide care to him. Other than resisting his unwanted contact, she contended that she had never struck defendant or threatened him harm. She allowed only that, after defendant “pinched her nipple,” she “slapped him on the arm” and told him that she “would take this further if he did this—if he touched [her] again inappropriately.” After hearing testimony from both parties, the trial court found that “the evidence is of even weight,” and, because defendant was the proponent of the restraining order, concluded that defendant had failed to carry his burden. The court set aside the restraining order.

Thereafter, plaintiff amended her complaint to add the claims for IIED and wrongful initiation of a civil proceeding. Plaintiff alleged that defendant lacked probable cause to seek a restraining order because plaintiff had not abused him and he was not in imminent and present danger of further abuse. Plaintiff alleged that defendant acted with malice or for a purpose other than securing an adjudication, as shown by defendant’s inclusion of false and derogatory information about plaintiff in the petition, the only purpose of which would be to punish plaintiff for reporting the May 11 incident to the police.2

Defendant moved for summary judgment on all of plaintiffs claims. The trial court granted defendant’s summary judgment motion and entered a general judgment dismissing plaintiffs claims against defendant that are at [685]*685issue here. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her remaining claims under ORCP 54 A.

On appeal, the parties’ arguments require that we consider whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. ORCP 47 C; Dial Temporary Help Services, 255 Or App at 610. To do that, we compare the law on a claim of wrongful initiation of civil proceedings with the evidence that the parties presented.

In Oregon, the elements of a claim for wrongful initiation of a civil proceeding are (1) defendant’s initiation and prosecution of a judicial proceeding against the plaintiff; (2) termination of the proceeding in the plaintiff’s favor; (3) the absence of probable cause to prosecute the action; (4) the existence of malice or, in other words, a primary purpose other than securing an adjudication of the claim; and (5) damages. SPS of Oregon, Inc. v. GDH, LLC, 258 Or App 210, 218, 309 P3d 178 (2013); Roop v. Parker Northwest Paving Co.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
348 P.3d 1192, 270 Or. App. 681, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deharpport-v-johnson-orctapp-2015.