Bill Text: NJ A595 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits disclosure of personal information pertaining to certain health care workers who are victims of assault; establishes civil penalty for each violation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A595 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A595-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Atkins and Assemblywoman Park
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits disclosure of personal information pertaining to certain health care workers who are victims of assault; establishes civil penalty for each violation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning confidentiality of victim's personal information and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act, "public record" shall have the same meaning as P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.).
b. The name and address of a health care worker who is a victim of an alleged simple assault or aggravated assault pursuant to N.J.S.2C:12-1, or sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault pursuant to N.J.S.2C:14-2 while engaged in the duties of providing direct patient care or practicing the health care profession shall be kept confidential and not appear on a report, statement, court document, indictment, or complaint if the actor is a patient or resident at a health care facility and the victim is:
(1) a health care worker employed by a licensed health care facility to provide direct patient care;
(2) a health care professional licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to Title 26 or Title 45 of the Revised Statutes to practice a health care profession; or
(3) a direct care worker at a State or county psychiatric hospital or State developmental center or veterans' memorial home.
The name and address of the victim shall be omitted or redacted from the report, statement, court document, indictment, or complaint.
c. Any report, statement, court document, indictment, or complaint which states the name or address of a victim shall be confidential and unavailable to the public. Unless authorized pursuant to a court order, any person who purposefully discloses, releases, or otherwise makes available to the public any document listed in subsection a. of this section which contains the name or address of a victim shall be subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each document.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the disclosure of personal information pertaining to certain health care workers who are assaulted by a patient or resident of a health care facility to prevent further violence, threats or intimidation against the victim.
Specifically, the bill prohibits the disclosure of the name and address of a victim of an alleged simple assault, aggravated assault, sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault on a report, statement, court document, indictment, or complaint which is provided to the public if the actor is a patient or resident at a health care facility and the victim is: 1) a health care worker employed by a licensed health care facility to provide direct patient care; 2) a health care professional licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to Title 26 or Title 45 of the Revised Statutes to practice a health care profession; or 3) a direct care worker at a State or county psychiatric hospital or State developmental center or veterans' memorial home. The bill requires this information to be omitted or redacted from the document.
The bill also requires that any report, statement, court document, indictment, or complaint which states the name or address of a victim be kept confidential and unavailable to the public, unless authorized pursuant to a court order. Any person who purposefully discloses, releases, or otherwise makes available to the public, without authorization, any of these documents would be subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each document disclosed in violation of the bill.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor, health care and social service workers experience the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence and are five times as likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than workers overall. In 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor reported that healthcare workers accounted for 73 percent of the more than 18,000 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence.
