34-42-1 - Employer references -- Civil liability -- Rebuttable presumption -- Common law. - Utah Statutes

34-42-1. Employer references -- Civil liability -- Rebuttable presumption --Common law.
(1) An employer who in good faith provides information about the job performance,professional conduct, or evaluation of a former or current employee to a prospective employer ofthat employee, at the request of the prospective employer of that employee, may not be heldcivilly liable for the disclosure or the consequences of providing the information.
(2) There is a rebuttable presumption that an employer is acting in good faith when theemployer provides information about the job performance, professional conduct, or evaluation ofa former or current employee to a prospective employer of that employee, at the request of theprospective employer of that employee.
(3) The presumption of good faith is rebuttable only upon showing by clear andconvincing evidence that the employer disclosed the information with actual malice or with intentto mislead.
(4) For purposes of this section "actual malice" means knowledge that the informationwas false or reckless disregard of whether the information was false.
(5) This section does not alter any privileges that exist under common law.

Enacted by Chapter 346, 1995 General Session