Gdowski v. Gdowski

In 2008, Michael Gdowski (plaintiff) filed a petition in family court to receive a protective order against his daughter, Diana Gdowski (defendant). At the time of the petition, Michael was 83 years old. Michael filed the petition pursuant to California’s Elder Abuse Act, codified in the Welfare and Institutions Code § 15657.03. In Michael’s petition, he alleged that Diana had physically and emotionally abused him on multiple occasions because Diana had disagreed with Michael on how to care for Michael’s wife, Frances Gdowski. Michael also alleged that multiple caretakers for Frances had quit because of Diana’s behavior. The court granted Michael a temporary restraining order against Diana and held a hearing to determine whether a more permanent protective order was warranted. At the hearing, Diana testified that she and Michael disagreed on Frances’s care but that she had never abused Michael and that she had not caused Frances’s caregivers to quit. During Michael’s testimony, he reiterated that Diana had abused him. Michael was then cross-examined by Diana’s counsel. Following the hearing, the family-court judge concluded that he had no opinion as to whether Diana had abused Michael. However, the family court issued Michael the protective order. The judge determined that Diana had allowed her counsel to cross-examine Michael in an extremely aggressive and confrontational manner that led to Michael experiencing emotional distress constituting elder abuse. Diana appealed on the ground that the family court was required to find a threat of future harm before issuing a protective order pursuant to California’s Elder Abuse Act. Diana also appealed on the ground that the family court had impermissibly relied on how Diana’s counsel had cross-examined Michael as evidence of elder abuse.