HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1584        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1453

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act protecting employers from frivolous litigation..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1: Chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 52C the following new section:—

Section 52C½. An employer or duly authorized agent of said employer who provides or otherwise discloses information about a former employee’s job performance or work record to a prospective employer or duly authorized agent is presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless lack of good faith is demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence, is immune from civil liability for such disclosure or its consequences. Clear and convincing evidence of lack of good faith shall be evidence that clearly shows the knowing disclosure, with malicious intent, of false or deliberately misleading information.