By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 43

(In the Senate - Filed November 8, 2010; January 31, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; March 8, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 8, 2011, sent to printer.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the civil liability of an employer or former employer of a mental health services provider who engages in sexual exploitation of a patient or former patient.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 81.003, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) An employer of a mental health services provider is liable to a patient or former patient of the mental health services provider for damages if the patient or former patient is injured as described by Section 81.002 and the employer:

(1) fails to make inquiries of an employer or former employer, whose name and address have been disclosed to the employer and who employed the mental health services provider as a mental health services provider within the five years before the date of disclosure, concerning the possible occurrence of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider of patients or former patients of the mental health services provider; or

(2) knows or has reason to know that the mental health services provider engaged in [the] sexual exploitation of a [the] patient or former patient and the employer failed to:

(A) report the suspected sexual exploitation as required by Section 81.006; or

(B) take necessary action to prevent or stop the sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider.

(b) An employer or former employer of a mental health services provider is liable to a patient or former patient of the mental health services provider for damages if the patient or former patient is injured as described by Section 81.002 and the employer or former employer:

(1) knows of the occurrence of [the] sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider of a [the] patient or former patient;

(2) receives a specific request by an employer or prospective employer of the mental health services provider, engaged in the business of providing mental health services, concerning the possible existence or nature of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider; and

(3) fails to disclose the occurrence of the sexual exploitation.

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the cause of action accrues, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

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