S-3925.1  _______________________________________________

 

                         SENATE BILL 6595

          _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

 

By Senators Moyer and Bluechel

 

Read first time 02/04/94.  Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.

 

Exempting fair and unbiased business communications from blacklisting prohibition.



    AN ACT Relating to blacklisting; and amending RCW 49.44.010.

 

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

 

    Sec. 1.  RCW 49.44.010 and 1899 c 23 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) Every person in this state who shall willfully and maliciously, send or deliver, or make or cause to be made, for the purpose of being delivered or sent or part with the possession of any paper, letter or writing, with or without name signed thereto, or signed with a fictitious name, or with any letter, mark or other designation, or publish or cause to be published any statement for the purpose of preventing any other person from obtaining employment in this state or elsewhere, and every person who shall willfully and maliciously "blacklist" or cause to be "blacklisted" any person or persons, by writing, printing or publishing, or causing the same to be done, the name, or mark, or designation representing the name of any person in any paper, pamphlet, circular or book, together with any statement concerning persons so named, or publish or cause to be published that any person is a member of any secret organization, for the purpose of preventing such person from securing employment, or who shall willfully and maliciously make or issue any statement or paper that will tend to influence or prejudice the mind of any employer against the person of such person seeking employment, or any person who shall do any of the things mentioned in this section for the purpose of causing the discharge of any person employed by any railroad or other company, corporation, individual or individuals, shall, on conviction thereof, be adjudged guilty of misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than ninety days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

    (2) This section does not prevent a former employer of an employee from imparting a fair and unbiased opinion of the employee's qualifications if solicited to give an opinion by a later or prospective employer of the employee.  This section does not prevent a merchant or professional person, or any association of merchants or professional persons, from maintaining or publishing a list concerning the credit or financial responsibility of a person dealing with them on credit.

    (3) An employer that, upon request by a prospective employer or a current or former employee, provides fair and unbiased information about a current or former employee's job performance, as provided in subsection (2) of this section, is presumed to be acting in good faith and is immune from civil liability for the disclosure and the consequences of the disclosure.  For the purposes of this subsection only, the presumption of good faith may be rebutted upon a showing by a preponderance of evidence that the information disclosed was knowingly false, deliberately misleading, disclosed for a malicious purpose, or violative of a civil right of the employee, as protected under chapter 49.60 RCW.

 


                            --- END ---