TKS Co-Pack Mfg. v. Wilson

552 P.3d 258

2024 UT App 87

TKS CO-PACK MANUFACTURING, LLC and Troy Wilson, Appellants and Cross-appellees,

v.Doug WILSON, Appellee and Cross-appellant.

No. 20210855-CA

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Filed June 6, 2024

Fourth District Court, Provo Department, The Honorable Robert A. Lund, The Honorable James R. Taylor, No. 200401547

Michael D. Stanger, Scarlet R. Smith, and R. Jesse Davis, Salt Lake City, Attorneys for Appellants and Cross-appellees

Brady Brammer and Brenton Ranck, Attorneys for Appellee and Cross-appellant, assisted by law student Annie Carmack¹

Judge John D. Luthy authored this Opinion, in which Judges Gregory K. Orme and Ryan M. Harris concurred, with the exception of Part II.B.2.b. Judge Harris authored a separate opinion regarding Part II.B.2.b, which Judge Orme joined.

Opinion

LUTHY, Judge:

¶1 This opinion addresses a number of issues related to civil stalking injunctions. It also addresses the requirements for judgments as set forth in rule 58A of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and the range of discretion given to district courts when deciding whether voluntary dismissal under rule 41(a) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure should be granted with or without prejudice.

¶2 Troy Wilson is the president and coowner of TKS Co-Pack Manufacturing, LLC (TKS). He hired his brother Doug Wilson to work at TKS. After a time, Doug² left TKS. Subsequently, Troy and TKS (collectively, the TKS parties) filed a complaint against Doug, which contained several tort claims as well as a request for a civil stalking injunction. With their complaint, the TKS parties also filed a motion for an ex parte civil stalking injunction, an ex parte temporary restraining order, and a preliminary injunction. The district court granted a temporary stalking injunction, and Doug then filed an answer and counterclaims. Doug later asked that his counterclaims be dismissed, and they were dismissed without prejudice.

¶3 After an evidentiary hearing, the distinct court issued a permanent civil stalking injunction (the Stalking Injunction) against Doug and in favor of Troy, The Stalking Injunction also protected "[a]ny customer of TKS" and "[a]ny employees of TKS." Subsequently, Doug posted on Facebook about the Stalking Injunction and communicated with a prior TKS customer (Prior Customer). The TKS parties then filed a motion requesting that Doug be held in contempt for violating the Stalking Injunction. The district court held another evidentiary hearing, applied the standard for criminal contempt, found that Troy had not established the alleged violations beyond a reasonable doubt, and denied Troy’s motion.

¶4 In the meantime, the TKS parties had also moved to dismiss their tort claims without prejudice. Doug opposed the motion and moved for dismissal of the claims with prejudice. The court dismissed the tort claims without prejudice.

¶5 The TKS parties appeal the district court’s decision not to hold Doug in contempt. Doug also appeals, asserting that the Stalking Injunction was not properly granted in the first place and that the district court erred by dismissing the TKS parties’ tort claims without prejudice.³

¶6 As to Doug’s appeal, we conclude that the district court did not err in issuing the Stalking Injunction and that the court did not abuse its ‘discretion in dismissing the TKS parties’ tort claims without prejudice. As to the TKS parties’ appeal, we unanimously affirm the district court’s determinations to apply the criminal standard in the contempt proceedings and to not hold Doug in contempt for communicating with Prior Customer. Additionally, based on Judge Harris’s separate opinion, which is joined by Judge Orme, we also affirm the district court’s determination to not hold Doug in contempt based on the allegation that his Facebook post and related comments violated the Stalking Injunction.

BACKGROUND

Pre-litigation History

¶7 Troy offered Doug, who was then living in California, a job at TKS, a business in which Troy held a 50% interest. Doug moved to Utah and began working at TKS as a production manager. After about a year and a half, Doug left TKS in mid-2020. Following Doug’s departure, Troy received reports from TKS employees that Doug had allegedly behaved inappropriately toward multiple employees while he worked there.

¶8 Doug then began working for TKS’s landlord (Landlord), a company that had its office in the same building as TKS. In his new role, Doug continued to have interactions with TKS employees that the TKS parties believed were harassment. Thus, Troy emailed Landlord to request that it appoint another of its employees as a point of contact for TKS. TKS also terminated the employment of several of its employees who it believed were attempting to sabotage TKS at Doug’s request.

The TKS Parties’ Complaint

¶9 In October 2020, the TKS parties filed a complaint against Doug, requesting a civil stalking injunction and asserting seven tort claims: tortious interference with employment relationships, tortious interference with customer relationships, tortious interference with government relationships, tortious interference with the landlord-tenant relationship, defamation, tortious infliction of emotional distress, and trespass. The TKS parties alleged, among other things, that after Doug left TKS, he had

• driven a forklift "into TKS’s roll up door";

• convinced several TKS employees to help him fabricate safety violations by TKS by doing such things as staging pictures to make it look like TKS was violating workplace safety regulations;

• convinced several TKS employees to sabotage TKS by doing such things as putting "grease on a brand new filter that was being used in production";

• attempted to falsely "blow the whistle" on TKS by reporting that TKS was transporting CBD without a permit when TKS had such a permit;

• persuaded Landlord that TKS "was dumping paint and other toxic items into the sewer," resulting in Landlord terminating TKS’s lease and then reinstating it after another company was identified as the source of the dumping; and

• continued to harass TKS employees by confronting them for speeding and using a roundabout improperly, "overzealously monitor[ing]" them, "sexually harass[ing] female employees, both on site and via text and phone," and telling "an employee of TKS that he now knows ‘why Cain killed Abel.’ "

The TKS parties asserted that "[t]hese actions by Doug [had] caused Troy and other employees of TKS to fear for their safety and alter their commuting patterns in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with Doug."

Temporary Civil Stalking Injunction

¶10 With their complaint, the TKS parties also filed a motion for an ex parte civil stalking injunction, an ex parte temporary restraining order, and a preliminary injunction. In that motion, the TKS parties alleged many of the details recounted above and requested that the district court "issue a stalking injunction against Doug and issue an injunction in the form of a Temporary Restraining Order and preliminary injunction enjoining Doug from having any contact with any TKS employee (including Troy) or customer, and to stay away from Troy’s home, and to stay out of TKS’s facilities." The district court issued an ex parte civil stalking injunction on October 27, 2020.

Doug's Suicide Attempt

¶11 Three days later, Doug attempted suicide, prompting the TKS parties to move to modify the temporary stalking injunction in light of Doug’s alleged actions during that episode. Specifically, the TKS parties alleged that Doug had come with a shotgun in his car to the building that housed TKS and Landlord, that he had gone into the building and left a suicide note, and that he had "then [gone] to the mountains with the intent of taking his own life." The TKS parties further alleged that Doug had "eventually [been] talked out of killing himself, … placed in police custody, and then transferred to a hospital." They continued, "After being released from the hospital, Doug has returned to work. This is problematic as Doug and Troy both work in the same building and the [temporary stalking injunction] specifically orders Doug to ‘stay away’ from Troy’s work." The TKS parties explained that law enforcement had "declined" to remove Doug from his workplace because the temporary injunction identified as protected premises "the suite . . of the building instead of the building itself." Accordingly, the TKS parties sought an amendment that would clarify that the term "‘stay away’ includes but is not limited to staying away from the building and the parking lot." They also requested "language specifically stating that Doug is prohibited from possessing a firearm."

Doug's Answer and Counterclaims

¶12 In November 2020, Doug filed both an answer to the TKS parties’ complaint and several counterclaims. He asserted that the allegations against him were based on "speculation and rumors" and that he "was distraught over being accused of sexual misconduct." He also recited the severe impact the allegations were having on his health, job, and marriage. Doug’s complaint then recounted Doug’s attempt to end his life:

On October 30, 2020[,] Doug Wilson left a suicide note at his … desk [in Landlord’s office]. The note read:

"To my family I love you all with everything I have. I feel like there is no other way out of where Troy has put me. I do not have the will or strength to fight. I have come to the end of the line. Forgive me. I want no funeral and no burial. Cremate me and take my ashes anywhere. Kids I love you so much. Everything I own I give to my wife, the house, the belongings, everything." —Douglas Wilson.

He did not have any shotgun at the time he left the note. He left [Landlord’s office], obtained a shotgun and went to the mountains with intent to take his own life.

Doug’s complaint relayed how he encountered hunters in the mountains, he voluntarily surrendered the gun to them, and they called the police to help him. It further stated that the police had...