HBA-ATS H.B. 2665 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2665 By: George Civil Practices 4/13/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current standards set by the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, an applicant for a position as a law enforcement officer must undergo a thorough, comprehensive background investigation to determine whether the applicant is of good moral character. It is difficult to perform a thorough and comprehensive background if a current or former employer of an applicant provides only the dates of employment and a description of the position held. These employers may be unwilling to divulge more information because of fear that they may be held liable under the law for disclosing or withholding information about current and former employees. Although H.B. 2665 requires an employer to disclose job performance information about a current or former employee, upon request of a law enforcement agency, it provides immunity from civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately caused by that disclosure, unless the preponderance of the evidence proves that the information disclosed was known by that employer to be false at the time of the disclosure. The same standard applies to a managerial employee or other representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who does provide such information. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, by adding Chapter 97, as follows: CHAPTER 97. EMPLOYER IMMUNITY FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES Sec. 97.001. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY. Provides that an employer who discloses information on request to a law enforcement agency (agency) about a current or former employee of the employer is immune from civil liability for that disclosure or any damages proximately caused by that disclosure unless it is proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the information disclosed was known by that employer to be false at the time the disclosure was made. Provides that this section applies to a managerial employee or other representative of the employer who is authorized to provide and who does provide information under this section in the same manner that it applies to an employer. SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 3.Emergency clause.