H. B. 4250
(By Delegates Brown, Amores, Palumbo and Mahan)
[Introduced February 2, 2004; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-21, relating to
limiting liability of court appointed licensed psychologists
when conducting child custody evaluations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §55-7-21, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-21. Limited immunity for court appointed licensed
psychologist conducting a child custody evaluation.
(a) (1) A licensed psychologist who has been appointed by a
court to conduct a child custody evaluation in a judicial
proceeding is presumed to be acting in good faith if the evaluation
has been conducted pursuant to standards recommended by the American Psychological Association's guidelines for child custody
evaluations in divorce proceedings.
(2) An administrative complaint against a court appointed
licensed psychologist relating to a child custody evaluation may
not be filed anonymously and shall include the full name, address
and telephone number of the claimant.
(3) A parent or guardian wanting to file a legal action
against the court appointed licensed psychologist who acted in good
faith in conducting the child custody evaluation shall first
petition the presiding judge of the child custody proceeding to
appoint another psychologist. The court shall make a determination
of financial responsibility for associated court costs and
attorneys fees in making the replacement appointment.
(4) If a civil action, criminal action or administrative
hearing is filed against a court appointed licensed psychologist in
a child custody proceeding, the claimant is responsible for all
reasonable court costs and attorneys fees related to the action by
both parties if the psychologist is not held liable. If the
licensed psychologist is found liable in civil court, then the
psychologist is responsible for reasonable court costs and
attorneys fees for the claimant as ordered by the court.
(b) (1) No cause of action in the nature of defamation,
invasion of privacy or negligence arises against any licensed
psychologist for disclosing personal or privileged information in accordance with the provisions of chapter forty-eight of this code.
(2) Subdivision (1) of this subsection provides no immunity:
(A) For any person who discloses false information with malice
or willful intent to injure a person; or
(B) For any person who misidentifies an individual as the
subject of information and who discloses the misidentified
information to others.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide good faith
protection for a licensed psychologist acting upon appointment by
a court in child custody cases. The protection is applicable if
the licensed psychologist followed the standard of care recommended
by the American Psychological Association's guidelines for child
custody evaluations. The purpose of the bill is to limit frivolous
lawsuits and administrative complaints against court appointed
licensed psychologists performing child custody evaluations. The
bill requires disclosure of the name of the claimant along with
other pertinent identifying information. The claimant bears the
financial responsibility for court costs and reasonable attorney
fees if the licensed court appointed psychologist is exonerated.
Immunity is not provided for disclosing false information with
malice or willful intent to injure any person; or for
misidentification of an individual as the subject of information
when disclosure is made of the information to others.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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