H. B. 4043
(By Delegate Amores)
[Introduced January 18, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto new section, designated §55-7-18a, relating to
the creation of a presumption of good faith and grant of
immunity for employers who disclose job-related information
about current and former employees to prospective employers.
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.
(b) For the purpose of this section, the presumption of good
faith is rebutted and immunity is lost upon a showing, by clear and
convincing evidence, that the information disclosed by the former
employer or his or her designated agent 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 the purposes of this section, "job-related
information" means a person's education, training, experience,
qualifications, conduct, and job performance to be used for the
purpose of evaluating the person for employment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide employer immunity
from civil liability for job-related information disclosed
regarding former employees.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.