Mel Gibson is facing another legal headache - his stepmother has filed a restraining order against the actor/director.

Teddy Joye Hicks Gibson, 78, who is currently in the middle of a divorce from the movie star's father Hutton, claims she fears for her safety at the hands of her stepson after he threatened her and allegedly spat in her face.

In legal documents filed by the pensioner and obtained by TMZ.com, Hicks Gibson has taken aim at the Braveheart star's infamous temper, claiming he and his sister Maura hate her.

In the papers, her attorney Brian J. Kramer claims much of the drama is related to "experimental Ozone treatments" Mel and his sister want their ailing father to consider. Hicks Gibson is opposed to the treatment.

During a family fight last year, Hicks Gibson accused her stepson of "yelling and saying, 'F**k this and f**k that' while leveling other extremely offensive language at me," adding that Mel told her "not to f**k with (his father's) treatments in any way."

There was another alleged nasty encounter in March and the actor reportedly "became incensed and began acting like a wild man" during a showdown in May.

She adds, "He was so close that I could feel his spit hitting my face."

Gibson's stepmother also claims Mel and his sister are behind their father's decision to end their 11-year marriage, and that the Lethal Weapon star is trying to force her out of her home, which is owned by a charity the star controls.

A California judge has called a full hearing into the case next month.

Mel Gibson's temper has kept him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years - taped footage of him raging at ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva during a phone call was released just before the couple's 2010 custody battle over daughter Lucia, and another rant, recorded by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' teenage son during a working vacation in Costa Rica, was made public in April.