Bill Text: WV HB4653 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requiring disclosure of nonpublic personal information required in employment cases
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-03 - To House Judiciary [HB4653 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2020-HB4653-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4653
By Delegate Pack
[Introduced February 03, 2020; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §55-7L-1, relating to the disclosure of nonpublic personal information required in employment cases; and providing a civil penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
Article 7L. Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information Required in Employment Cases.
§55-7L-1. Notice and disclosure.
(a) Each employer shall provide, within 30 days of its receipt of a written request from an employee or former employee’s legal representative who has given written notice he or she represents the employee or former employee in a potential civil action regarding the individual’s employment or separation from employment:
(1) A response providing the following information relating to the employee:
(2) A full copy of the employee’s personnel file;
(3) A full copy of the employee’s medical file;
(4) A full copy of the employee’s payroll records.
(b) The declarations page of an employer liability insurance policy applicable at the time of the events that are the subject of the claim appropriately redacted to comply with applicable privacy laws or rules.
(c) Any written request by the employee or former employee’s attorney under this section shall include:
(1) The date and location of the events that are the subject of the claim;
(2) The name and address of the employee or former employee;
(3) A signed employment record release;
(4) Where medical information is requested, a signed medical record release.
(d) Disclosure of the information required by subsection (a)(2) of this section is not an admission that the alleged injury or damage is subject to any policy of insurance, nor does the disclosure waive any reservation of rights an insurer may have.
(e) The information disclosed by any party pursuant to this section, by reason of the disclosure alone, is not admissible as evidence at trial.
(f) An employer that fails to comply with this section is subject to a penalty of $500, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses incurred in obtaining disclosure of information required by subsection (a) of this section. This penalty is the sole and exclusive remedy for an employer’s failure to comply with this section before suit is filed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require disclosure of nonpublic personal information required in employment cases. It provides for a civil penalty for failure to comply.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
