Update on New VT Reference Law

Amy McLaughlin, Esq. - Contributor

You may have heard about the new Vermont Reference Law enacted last year, initially to be effective April 1, 2011, mandating the collection and disclosure of certain information about prospective employees who may have a "position of power, authority, or supervision over a minor or vulnerable adult" or have "unsupervised contact with a minor or vulnerable adult."  Implementation of Section 18 of Act 157 recently was delayed until July 2011.

Even more significantly, the VT House Judiciary Committee drafted a bill to repeal the reference law in its entirety, and in its place grant employers civil immunity when providing certain employment references.  Specifically, H. 450, which has passed the House and is currently before the Senate grants civil immunity to employers that provide, in good faith, information about a current or former employee's job performance to an employer that employs or contracts with individuals whose duties may place those individuals in a position of power, authority or supervision over a minor or vulnerable adult, or whose duties are likely to permit regular or unsupervised contact with a minor or vulnerable adult, on either a paid or volunteer basis. The presumption of civil immunity may be lost in three circumstances: (1) the disclosed information was false and the employer knew or should have known it was false; (2) the employer knowingly disclosed misleading information; or (3) the employer disclosed information in violation of the law.  If passed as currently drafted, the repeal of Section 18 of Act 157 will be immediate and the civil immunity provision will be effective on July 1, 2011.

Stay tuned for new developments about H. 450.  In the interim, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Amy McLaughlin, Co-Chair, Employment Law Group