From Siewert v. Decker, decided Thursday by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Judges Lisa Stark, Thomas Hruz, and Gregory Gill):
Siewert testified that she is the editor and publisher of Wausau Pilot and Review, a local news website, and she is also a broadcast specialist for Wisconsin Public Radio. Siewert explained that she had known Decker for five or six years, and during that time she had published some of his work on her website. She testified that "[t]hings started to get a little strange" with Decker in late October 2021, and in December he "started initiating some text messages with [her], wanting to get together." Despite Siewert telling Decker that she was busy, he continued to contact her repeatedly via text message.
In one instance, Decker texted Siewert when she was in the hospital following emergency surgery, and when she apprised him of her location, "he responded by asking if he could visit, kept on texting, asking me if I would take a bi-weekly column from him that he wanted to call 'Question Authority.' I responded by saying that I'm literally an hour out of surgery. He kept calling."
Decker continued calling and texting Siewert, and on December 27, 2021, she asked him to stop contacting her. Decker texted Siewert again on January 7, 2022, regarding an article that he wanted to write. Once again, Siewert asked Decker to stop contacting her, and she blocked his phone number. Decker then began emailing Siewert, sending her twenty-two emails after she asked him to stop contacting her. Siewert testified that she also asked Decker to stop contacting her multiple times via email.
