COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4296
(By Delegates Craig, Amores, Morgan and Leach)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 3, 2006]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-18a, relating
to providing employers with qualified immunity from liability
for disclosing job-related information concerning a current or
former employee to a prospective employer; requiring written
disclosure of the job-related information; and providing for
the correction of false or misleading information.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-18a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-18a. Employer immunity from liability; disclosure of
information regarding former employees.
(a) Any employer or his or her designated agent who discloses
job-related information about a former or current employee to a
prospective employer of the former or current employee is presumed
to be acting in good faith and is immune from civil liability for the disclosure or its consequences: Provided, That the disclosure
of job-related information pursuant to this subsection shall be in
writing and a copy of any such disclosure shall also be provided to
the former or current employee who is the subject of the
disclosure.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the presumption of good
faith is rebutted upon a showing, by clear and convincing evidence,
that the information disclosed was:
(1) knowingly false;
(2) disclosed with reckless disregard for the truth;
(3) deliberately misleading;
(4) rendered with malicious purpose toward the former or
current employee; or
(5) disclosed in violation of a nondisclosure agreement or
applicable law.
(c) For purposes of this section, "job-related information"
means information concerning a person's education, training,
experience, qualifications, conduct and job performance which is
offered for the purpose of providing criteria to evaluate the
person's suitability for employment.
(d) If an employer disclosed job-related information to a
prospective employer of a former or current employee that was false
or misleading, and if the current or former employee requests, then
the employer shall give corrected information to every person or
entity that is in the employer's records as having received the
original information: Provided, That this subsection may not be
construed as requiring the employer to keep such records: Provided, however, That the failure to comply with this subsection is not
admissible in evidence in a suit between the employer and the
employee.