HOUSE BILL No. 6423

 

 

October 3, 2018, Introduced by Rep. Marino and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.

 

     A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled

 

"Revised judicature act of 1961,"

 

by amending section 2956a (MCL 600.2956a), as added by 2014 PA 360.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2956a. (1) In an action based on tort or another legal

 

theory seeking damages for personal injury, property damage, or

 

wrongful death, a certificate of employability issued to an

 

individual under section 34d of the corrections code of 1953, 1953

 

PA 232, MCL 791.234d, may be introduced as evidence of a person's

 

due care in hiring, retaining, licensing, leasing to, admitting to

 

a school or program, or otherwise transacting business or engaging

 

in activity with the individual to whom the certificate of

 

employability was issued, if the person knew of the certificate at

the time of hiring, retaining, licensing, leasing to, admitting to

 

a school or program, or otherwise transacting business or engaging

 

in activity with the individual.

 

     (2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, in an

 

action based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for

 

personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death, if a claim

 

against an employer requires proof that the employer was negligent

 

in hiring an individual by disregarding a prior criminal

 

conviction, a certificate of employability issued to an individual

 

under section 34d of the corrections code of 1953, 1953 PA 232, MCL

 

791.234d, conclusively establishes that the employer did not act

 

negligently in hiring the individual, if the employer knew of the

 

certificate at the time of hire.

 

     (3) If an individual who has been issued a certificate of

 

employability under section 34d of the corrections code of 1953,

 

1953 PA 232, MCL 791.234d, is hired and subsequently demonstrates

 

that he or she is a danger to individuals or property or is

 

convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony, an employer who retains

 

the individual as an employee is not liable in a civil action that

 

requires proof that the employer was negligent in retaining the

 

individual as an employee unless a preponderance of the evidence

 

establishes that the person having hiring and firing responsibility

 

for the employer had actual knowledge,or that a reasonable person

 

in that position should have known, that the individual was

 

dangerous or that the individual had been convicted of or pleaded

 

guilty to the subsequent felony, and the person was willful in

 

retaining the individual as an employee.

     (4) This section does not relieve an employer from a duty or

 

requirement established in another law concerning a background

 

check or verification that an individual is qualified for a

 

position, and does not relieve the employer of liability arising

 

from failure to comply with any such law.

 

     (5) This section does not create any affirmative duty or

 

otherwise alter an employer's obligation to or regarding an

 

employee with a certificate of employability issued under section

 

34d of the corrections code of 1953, 1953 PA 232, MCL 791.234d.