Activist told to pay adversary’s legal fees

An Alameda County court commissioner ordered a Berkeley middle school teacher and activist to pay $11,100 in legal fees to the former head of the Berkeley College Republicans after the teacher dropped a demand for a restraining order against the ex-leader of the GOP group.

The tentative court order requires Yvette Felarca, national organizer for By Any Means Necessary, a group that led protests against conservative speakers at UC Berkeley in 2017, to pay the attorney and court fees for Troy Worden, whose group promoted the speakers’ events.

Felarca filed for a civil harassment restraining order against Worden in September, claiming he was stalking her by following her around on the UC Berkeley campus, taking a selfie with her and appearing at By Any Means Necessary’s events. Worden denied any wrongdoing.

Felarca was granted a temporary restraining order. She then dropped the request for a permanent order at the end of October, prompting Worden’s attorneys to seek legal fees.

In his order Thursday, Commissioner Thomas Rasch ruled that Felarca’s request for a restraining order “was not brought in good faith.” He denied a request for sanctions against Felarca’s attorney for taking frivolous legal action.

The order evoked strong and sharply differing responses.

Worden’s attorney Mark Meuser said he hoped the ruling would “send a strong signal (to Felarca) that she cannot abuse the court system to silence speech.” Another of Worden’s attorneys, Harmeet Dhillon, accused Felarca of “abusing the courts to achieve her anarchistic ends.”

Shanta Driver, Felarca’s attorney, said she would appeal the ruling, saying it sends a message to women that they face a financial risk for seeking protection from harassment through a restraining order. She said Felarca had dropped the request for a permanent restraining order because Worden stopped stalking her after the temporary order was issued.

“This says to every woman out there that if you file for a restraining order, and don’t pursue the case, you are subject to these court fees,” Driver said. “We can’t have this message given to women, especially now when there are the beginnings of a period where women feel they can go forward against men harassing them, stalking them, using their power over women.”