I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 843 

To provide for a safe harbor for reports to potential employers by current 

or former employers of violent behavior or threats thereof by employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. PETERSON, 

and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for a safe harbor for reports to potential employers by current or former employers of violent behavior 

or threats thereof by employees. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘See Something, Say 

5 Something About Violent Behavior Act of 2017’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FROM LIABILITY FOR REPORTS OF 

2 VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. 

3 (a) SAFE HARBOR FOR EMPLOYER REPORTS OF VIO4 LENT BEHAVIOR OR THREATENED VIOLENT BEHAV5 IOR.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any employer who, in good 

7 faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion, 

8 makes, or causes to be made, a voluntary report 

9 about violent behavior, or threatened violent behav10 ior, by an employee or former employee to a poten11 tial employer of that employee, or to any authorized 

12 official, shall be immune from civil liability under 

13 Federal, State, and local law for such report. 

14 (2) FALSE REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

15 apply to any report if it is shown by clear and con16 vincing evidence that the employer knew such report 

17 to be false or that such report was made with reck18 less disregard for the truth at the time that em19 ployer made such report. 

20 (b) SAFE HARBOR FOR RESPONSE.—Any potential 

21 employer who observes or receives a report from an em22 ployer acting pursuant to subsection (a) about violent be23 havior, or threatened violent behavior, of an employee or 

24 potential employee and takes reasonable action in good 

25 faith to respond to such activity shall be immune from 

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1 civil liability under Federal, State, and local law for such 

2 action. 

3 (c) IMMUNITY FOR RESPONSE.—Any authorized offi4 cial who observes or receives a report of violent behavior, 

5 or threatened violent behavior, and takes reasonable action 

6 in good faith to respond to such activity shall have quali7 fied immunity from civil liability for such action, con8 sistent with applicable law in the relevant jurisdiction. An 

9 authorized official who is not entitled to assert the defense 

10 of qualified immunity shall nevertheless be immune from 

11 civil liability under Federal, State, and local law if such 

12 authorized official takes reasonable action, in good faith, 

13 to respond to the reported activity. 

14 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this Act shall af15 fect the ability of any employer or authorized official to 

16 assert any defense, privilege, or immunity that would oth17 erwise be available under Federal, State, or local law or 

18 regulations, or common law, and this Act shall not be con19 strued as affecting any such defense, privilege, or immu20 nity. 

21 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

22 shall be construed to create any duty of any employer to 

23 disclose violent behavior, or threatened violent behavior, 

24 or to preclude an employer from disclosing any such be25 havior, or other behavior. 

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1 (f) ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS.—Any employer or 

2 authorized official who is found to be immune from civil 

3 liability under this section shall be entitled to recover from 

4 the plaintiff all reasonable costs and attorney fees. 

5 (g) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘authorized official’’ means— 

7 (A) any officer, employee, or agent of the 

8 Department of Homeland Security, the Depart9 ment of Transportation, or the Department of 

10 Justice; or 

11 (B) any Federal, State, or local law en12 forcement officer; and 

13 (2) the term ‘‘employer’’ includes any individual 

14 agent or representative of that employer; and 

15 (3) the term ‘‘violent behavior, or threatened 

16 violent behavior’’ means battery, assault, threats of 

17 violence, physical fighting, physical intimidation, and 

18 other violent conduct, or a threat of such conduct, 

19 that a reasonable person would consider to pose a 

20 threat of physical injury to any person. 

Æ 

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