Kentucky appeals court finds no threat, overturns woman's stalking protection order

Repeated encounters at a workplace can make an already difficult family dispute more uncomfortable, particularly when tensions surrounding a divorce involve people outside the marriage. In Kentucky, a series of encounters at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant led a woman to seek a stalking protection order against another woman whom some members of her family believed was involved with her aunt's husband. The dispute eventually reached the state's Court of Appeals, which found that the evidence did not establish the threats required under Kentucky law.In an opinion issued on November 6, 2026, the Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed the protection order granted to Abigail Taylor Harbin against Billie West. The ruling in Billie West v. Abigail Taylor Harbin, an unpublished opinion available on Justia, examined whether West's repeated appearances at the restaurant and other encounters amounted to stalking under state law. The appellate court concluded that there was no evidence West had explicitly or implicitly threatened Harbin with physical injury or death, a necessary element of the applicable legal standard.How the dispute began at Chuck E. CheeseAccording to the court's opinion, the incidents occurred in late November and early December 2025. At the time, David Hensley was married to Harbin's aunt, Megan Hensley, although the couple was in the process of divorcing.