ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4296
(By Delegates Craig, Amores, Morgan and Leach)
[Passed March 11, 2006; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT 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 to a prospective employer job-related
information reasonably believed to be adverse concerning a
current or former employee; 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 that may be reasonably considered adverse 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 such information
pursuant to this subsection shall be in writing and a copy of any
such disclosure shall be provided to the former or current employee
at the time of disclosure.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the presumption of good
faith is rebutted upon a showing, by a preponderance of the
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, with a copy thereof to the former or current
employee.