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Committee hears bill to let employers petition for workplace protective orders
Summary
Senate Bill 49, presented April 23 to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, would allow employers to petition courts for workplace protective orders in cases of workplace violence or credible threats; advocates for domestic violence and shelter providers testified in support. The bill was set aside for further consideration.
Senate Labor and Commerce on April 23 heard Senate Bill 49, a proposal to allow employers or organizations to file petitions for workplace-specific protective orders when an individual has committed or threatened violence at a workplace. The bill—s presentation was made by Brianna Kacarick on behalf of sponsor Senator Matt Klayman. The committee set the bill aside for further consideration at the end of the hearing.
SB 49 is modeled on Alaska—s domestic violence protective order process and would permit an employer to seek a protective order under two circumstances: when an individual has committed an act of violence against an employer or employee at the workplace, or when an individual has made a threat of violence that may be carried out at the workplace, Kacarick said. The bill would make a violation of such an order the existing crime of violating a protective order, a class A misdemeanor under Alaska law, and would prohibit awarding attorney fees against the petitioner in certain protective-order proceedings, she said.
Invited testimony came from advocacy organizations that provide statewide and rural services. Brenda Stanfill, executive director of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, told the committee the measure would give organizations a tool to protect staff and applicants without forcing victims to disclose shelter addresses or pursue personal orders. "This would give the organization the ability to get a protective order without ever even having to disclose if the person was staying there," Stanfill said.
Eileen Arnold, executive director of the Tundra Women's Coalition in Bethel, described incidents where abusers followed victims to shelters and made threats of arson and gun violence. Arnold said she once intervened when a man would not release a child's stroller outside Tundra's entrance and later told staff he intended to "get his gun so that he could shoot her and then burn TWC down." Arnold said a workplace protective order would have helped keep staff and residents safe.
Kacarick said the bill was crafted in consultation with the Alaska Network and that 11 states have enacted workplace-protective-order laws, noting Utah enacted one in 2023. Nancy Mead of the Alaska Court System was present for the hearing; no committee questions for court staff were recorded. With no roll-call vote, the chair said the committee would "set Senate Bill 49 aside" for future consideration.
Supporters said the bill would provide an additional avenue to protect workplaces and service providers, especially in rural communities where victims and providers face logistical and safety barriers to obtaining person-centered orders. Opposing testimony was not recorded at the hearing.
