[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4532 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4532

  To provide for a safe harbor for reports to potential employers by 
 current or former employers of violent behavior or threats thereof by 
                               employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2016

    Mr. Goodlatte (for himself, Mr. Kline, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Hurt of 
  Virginia, Mr. Griffith, and Mr. Peterson) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for a safe harbor for reports to potential employers by 
 current or former employers of violent behavior or threats thereof by 
                               employees.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Harbor for Reporting Violent 
Behavior Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FROM LIABILITY FOR REPORTS OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.

    (a) Safe Harbor for Employer Reports of Violent Behavior or 
Threatened Violent Behavior.--
            (1) In general.--Any employer who, in good faith and based 
        on objectively reasonable suspicion, makes, or causes to be 
        made, a voluntary report about violent behavior, or threatened 
        violent behavior, by an employee or former employee to a 
        potential employer of that employee shall be immune from civil 
        liability under Federal, State, and local law for such report.
            (2) False reports.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
        report if it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the 
        employer knew such report to be false or that such report was 
        made with reckless disregard for the truth at the time that 
        employer made such report.
    (b) Safe Harbor for Response.--Any potential employer who observes 
or receives a report from an employer acting pursuant to subsection (a) 
about violent behavior, or threatened violent behavior, of an employee 
or potential employee and takes reasonable action in good faith to 
respond to such activity shall be immune from civil liability under 
Federal, State, and local law for such action.
    (c) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act shall affect the ability 
of any employer to assert any defense, privilege, or immunity that 
would otherwise be available under Federal, State, or local law or 
regulations, or common law, and this Act shall not be construed as 
affecting any such defense, privilege, or immunity.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to create any duty of any employer to disclose violent behavior, or 
threatened violent behavior, or to preclude an employer from disclosing 
any such behavior, or other behavior.
    (e) Attorney Fees and Costs.--Any employer who is immune from civil 
liability under this section shall be entitled to recover from the 
plaintiff all reasonable costs and attorney fees.
    (f) Definition.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``employer'' includes any individual agent or 
        representative of that employer; and
            (2) the term ``violent behavior, or threatened violent 
        behavior'' means battery, assault, threats of violence, 
        physical fighting, physical intimidation, and other violent 
        conduct, or a threat of such conduct, that a reasonable person 
        would consider to pose a threat of physical injury to any 
        person.
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