Bill Text: IA SF580 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the liability of private employers, general contractors, and premises owners for negligently hiring employees, agents, or independent contractors convicted of a public offense. (Formerly SSB 1220.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-08 - Withdrawn. S.J. 883. [SF580 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-SF580-Introduced.html
Senate File 580 - Introduced SENATE FILE 580 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1220) (COMPANION TO HF 650 BY COMMITTEE ON LABOR) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the liability of private employers, general 1 contractors, and premises owners for negligently hiring 2 employees, agents, or independent contractors convicted of 3 a public offense. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2759SV (2) 88 asf/jh
S.F. 580 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 671A.1 Limitation on liability for 1 negligently hiring an employee, agent, or independent contractor 2 convicted of a public offense. 3 1. A cause of action shall not be brought against a private 4 employer, general contractor, or premises owner for negligently 5 hiring an employee, agent, or independent contractor, based 6 solely on evidence that the employee, agent, or independent 7 contractor has been convicted of a public offense as defined 8 in section 701.2. 9 2. This chapter does not create a cause of action or expand 10 an existing cause of action. 11 3. This chapter does not apply to employment of prisoners 12 at prisons. 13 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 671A.2 Liability protection not 14 applicable. 15 1. This chapter does not preclude a cause of action for 16 negligent hiring based on evidence that the employee, agent, or 17 independent contractor has been convicted of a public offense 18 as defined in section 701.2, if all of the following criteria 19 are met: 20 a. The private employer, general contractor, or premises 21 owner knew or should have known of the conviction. 22 b. The employee, agent, or independent contractor was 23 convicted of any of the following: 24 (1) A public offense that was committed while performing 25 duties substantially similar to those reasonably expected to 26 be performed in the employment or under the relationship or 27 contract, or under conditions substantially similar to those 28 reasonably expected to be encountered in the employment or 29 under the relationship or contract, taking into consideration 30 all of the following factors: 31 (a) The nature and seriousness of the public offense. 32 (b) The extent and nature of the employee, agent, or 33 independent contractor’s past criminal activity. 34 (c) The age of the employee, agent, or independent 35 -1- LSB 2759SV (2) 88 asf/jh 1/ 4
S.F. 580 contractor when the public offense was committed. 1 (d) The amount of time that has elapsed since the employee, 2 agent, or independent contractor’s last criminal activity. 3 (2) A sexually violent offense as defined in section 229A.2. 4 (3) The offense of murder in the first degree under section 5 707.2. 6 (4) The offense of murder in the second degree under section 7 707.3. 8 (5) The offense of kidnapping in the first degree under 9 section 710.2. 10 (6) The offense of robbery in the first degree under section 11 711.2. 12 (7) An offense committed on certain real property for which 13 an enhanced penalty was received under section 124.401A or 14 124.401B. 15 (8) A felony offense where the employee, agent, or 16 independent contractor used or exhibited a dangerous weapon as 17 defined in section 702.7 during the commission of or during 18 immediate flight from the scene of the felony offense, or 19 where the employee, agent, or independent contractor used or 20 exhibited the dangerous weapon or was a party to the felony 21 offense and knew that a dangerous weapon would be used or 22 exhibited. 23 2. The protections provided to a private employer, general 24 contractor, or premises owner under this chapter do not apply 25 in a suit concerning the misuse of funds or property of a 26 person other than the employer, general contractor, or premises 27 owner, by an employee, agent, or independent contractor if, on 28 the date the employee, agent, or independent contractor was 29 hired, the employee, agent, or independent contractor had been 30 convicted of a public offense that included fraud or the misuse 31 of funds or property as an element of the public offense, and 32 it was foreseeable that the position for which the employee, 33 agent, or independent contractor was hired would involve 34 discharging a fiduciary responsibility in the management of 35 -2- LSB 2759SV (2) 88 asf/jh 2/ 4
S.F. 580 funds or property. 1 EXPLANATION 2 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 4 This bill relates to the cause of action of negligent hiring. 5 The bill does not expand or create any other causes of action. 6 Under current law, the tort of negligent hiring allow a 7 person injured by an employee to sue the employee’s employer 8 even though the act was committed outside the scope of the 9 employment due to some fault resting with the employer for 10 hiring the employee. 11 The bill provides that the cause of action of negligent 12 hiring shall not be brought against a private employer, general 13 contractor, or premises owner based solely on evidence that the 14 employee, agent, or independent contractor has been convicted 15 of a public offense. However, the bill does not preclude 16 causes of action for negligent hiring of an employee, agent, 17 or independent contractor, if two criteria are met. First, 18 the private employer, general contractor, or premises owner 19 knew or should have known of the conviction; and second, the 20 employee, agent, or independent contractor was convicted of a 21 public offense enumerated in the bill or a public offense that 22 was committed while performing duties substantially similar to 23 those reasonably expected to be performed in the employment, 24 or under the relationship or contract, or under conditions 25 substantially similar to those reasonably expected to be 26 encountered in the employment or the relationship or contract, 27 taking into consideration enumerated factors set forth in the 28 bill. 29 The bill provides that the protections provided to a private 30 employer, general contractor, or premises owner do not apply 31 in a suit concerning the misuse of funds or property of a 32 person other than the employer, general contractor, or premises 33 owner, by an employee, agent, or independent contractor if, on 34 the date the employee, agent, or independent contractor was 35 -3- LSB 2759SV (2) 88 asf/jh 3/ 4
S.F. 580 hired, the employee, agent, or independent contractor had been 1 convicted of a public offense that included fraud or the misuse 2 of funds or property as an element of the public offense, and 3 it was foreseeable that the position for which the employee, 4 agent, or independent contractor was hired would involve 5 discharging a fiduciary responsibility in the management of 6 funds or property. 7 The bill does not apply to the employment of prisoners at 8 prisons. 9 -4- LSB 2759SV (2) 88 asf/jh 4/ 4
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