S-1000.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5457
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Senators L. Smith, Rasmussen, West, Stratton, Johnson, Owen, Saling, McCaslin, Bailey, Metcalf, Craswell, Amondson, Hayner, Thorsness and Cantu.
Read first time January 31, 1991. Referred to Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care.
AN ACT Relating to persons infected with HIV; amending RCW 49.60.174; adding a new section to chapter 70.24 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 18.130 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 70.24 RCW to read as follows:
(1) It is a gross misdemeanor for any person who knows he or she is infected with HIV to:
(a) Continue any contact with the public in the course of employment that is determined by the board in rule to present a significant risk of transmitting HIV to other persons; or
(b) Fail to provide notification of his or her HIV infection to the employer and such other persons as the board determines in rule may have been at significant risk of exposure to the infection as a result of contact with the infected person in the course of the infected person's employment.
(2) Any person who knows they are infected with HIV and notifies another person as required by subsection (1) of this section shall pay for pretest counseling, HIV testing, and posttest counseling as recommended by the board in rule to determine whether persons who have been exposed have become infected with HIV.
(3) The board shall adopt rules defining "significant risk" as used in this section to include any contact that the federal centers for disease control have found to result in an actual HIV transmission, including invasive medical procedures in which recommended infection control procedures may have failed.
(4) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 18.130 RCW to read as follows:
A violation of section 1 of this act by a person subject to this chapter is unprofessional conduct.
Sec. 3. RCW 49.60.174 and 1988 c 206 s 902 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) For the purposes of determining whether an unfair practice under this chapter has occurred, claims of discrimination based on actual or perceived HIV infection shall be evaluated in the same manner as other claims of discrimination based on sensory, mental, or physical handicap.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to transactions with insurance entities, health service contractors, or health maintenance organizations subject to RCW 49.60.030(1)(e) or 49.60.178 to prohibit fair discrimination on the basis of actual HIV infection status when bona fide statistical differences in risk or exposure have been substantiated.
(3) Any notification or other action required by section 1 of this act or rules adopted under section 1 of this act is not an unfair practice under this section.
(4) For the purposes of this chapter, "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus, and includes all HIV and HIV-related viruses which damage the cellular branch of the human immune system and leave the infected person immunodeficient.