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(124th General Assembly)
(Substitute Senate Bill Number 131)
AN ACT
To enact sections 2305.236 to 2305.239 of the Revised
Code to confer
two distinct qualified immunities
from tort liability upon a shelter for
victims
of
domestic violence and its directors, owners,
trustees, officers,
employees, victim advocates,
and volunteers for
harm that family or household
members
cause to
victims of domestic violence or
other persons on the shelter's
premises, or on
premises other than the shelter's
premises,
under
specified circumstances.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 2305.236, 2305.237, 2305.238, and
2305.239 of the
Revised Code be enacted
to read as follows: Sec. 2305.236. As used in sections 2305.236 to 2305.239 of
the Revised Code: (A) "Conduct" means actions or omissions. (B) "Domestic violence," "shelter,"
and "shelter for victims
of domestic violence" have the
same meanings as
in section 3113.33
of the Revised Code. (C) "Perpetrator" means a person who allegedly has committed
domestic violence and who bears one of the relationships specified
in division (B) of section 3113.33 of the Revised Code to a victim
of domestic violence who is a shelter client.
(D)
"Harm" means injury, death, or loss to person or
property. (E) "Political subdivision" has the same meaning as in
section
2744.01 of the Revised Code. (F) "Tort action" means a civil action for damages for
injury,
death, or loss to person or property other than a civil
action for
damages for a breach of contract or another agreement
between
persons.
(G) "Volunteer" means an individual who provides any service
at a
shelter for victims of domestic violence without the
expectation of
receiving and without receiving any compensation or
other form of
remuneration, either directly or indirectly, for the
provision of
the service. (H) "Shelter client" means a person who is a victim of
domestic violence and who is seeking to use or is using the
services
or facilities of a shelter for victims of domestic
violence. (I) "Victim advocate" means a person from a crime victim
service organization who provides support and assistance for a
victim of a crime during court proceedings and recovery efforts
related to the crime.
(J) "Crime victim service organization" means any
organization that is not organized for profit and that is
organized and operated to provide, or to contribute to the support
of organizations or institutions organized and operated to
provide, services and assistance for victims of crime.
Sec. 2305.237. (A) Except as
provided in division (B) of
this section and
subject to section 2305.239 of the Revised Code,
a shelter for victims of
domestic violence and a director, owner,
trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of
the
shelter are not
liable in damages in a tort action for harm that a
shelter client or other person who is on the shelter's premises
allegedly sustains
as a result of tortious
conduct of a
perpetrator that is
committed on the shelter's premises if the
perpetrator is not a director, owner, trustee, officer,
employee,
victim advocate,
or
volunteer of the shelter and if any of the
following situations
applies: (1) The perpetrator illegally entered and
illegally remained
on the premises at the time the
perpetrator's tortious conduct
allegedly caused the
harm sustained by a shelter client or other
person who is on the premises. (2) The perpetrator legally entered the
premises; a
director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate,
or
volunteer of the
shelter instructed the perpetrator to leave the
premises, and
took reasonable steps
under
the
circumstances to
cause the
perpetrator to
leave the premises, before the
perpetrator
allegedly caused the harm sustained by a shelter
client or other person who is on the premises; and,
despite those
reasonable steps,
the perpetrator remained on the
premises
and
committed the tortious conduct that
allegedly caused
the harm
sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the
premises. (3) The perpetrator legally entered the
premises; a
director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate,
or
volunteer of the
shelter granted the perpetrator
permission to
remain on
the
premises after taking either
of the following
precautionary steps;
and, despite taking either
of
those steps,
the perpetrator
committed the
tortious conduct that allegedly
caused the harm
sustained by a shelter client or other person who
is on the premises: (a) The director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim
advocate, or
volunteer of
the
shelter asks a person entering the
premises
whether the person is related by consanguinity or
affinity to or
has resided with a shelter client; the person
responds that the
person is
not so related and has not so resided;
and the director,
owner,
trustee, officer, employee, victim
advocate, or volunteer, in exercising the
reasonable
judgment and
discretion of a prudent person under
similar
circumstances,
believes that the person is not so related
and has not so resided. (b) The director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim
advocate, or
volunteer of the
shelter asks a person entering the
premises
whether
the person is related by consanguinity or
affinity to or
has resided with a shelter client; the person
responds that the
person
is
so related or has so resided; and the
director,
owner,
trustee,
officer, employee, victim advocate, or
volunteer, in exercising the
reasonable
judgment and discretion of
a prudent person under
similar
circumstances, determines that
granting the person
permission
to
remain on the premises does not
appear to
pose a
threat of harm
to a shelter client or other
person who is on the premises. (B) The immunity from tort liability conferred by division
(A) of
this section is not available to a shelter for victims of
domestic
violence or a director, owner, trustee, officer,
employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of
the shelter if the
plaintiff in a tort
action establishes, by
clear and convincing
evidence, that a
director, owner, trustee, officer, employee,
victim advocate, or volunteer of the
shelter contributed to the
harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the
shelter's premises, by
an action or omission that involved
malicious
purpose, bad faith,
or wanton or reckless
conduct. For
purposes
of this division,
"reckless conduct" includes
the release
of confidential
information
that pertains to a shelter client. Sec. 2305.238. (A) Except as provided in division (B)
of
this
section and subject to section 2305.239 of the Revised Code,
a
shelter for victims of domestic violence and a director, owner,
trustee,
officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the
shelter are not
liable in
damages in a tort action for harm that a
shelter client or other person who is on the premises
allegedly
sustains as a result of tortious
conduct of a
perpetrator that is
committed on
premises other than the shelter's
premises if the
perpetrator is not a director, owner, trustee,
officer, employee,
victim advocate, or
volunteer of the shelter and if both of the
following apply when the harm is caused: (1) A director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim
advocate, or
volunteer of the
shelter is providing assistance to a
shelter
client,
including, but not
limited to, accompanying the
client to
a health
care practitioner's or
attorney's office. (2) The director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim
advocate, or
volunteer of the
shelter is engaged in the course of
that
director's, owner's, trustee's, officer's,
employee's, victim
advocate's, or
volunteer's employment, official responsibilities,
or
authorized
services for the shelter. (B) The immunity from tort liability conferred by division
(A) of
this section is not available to a shelter for victims of
domestic violence or
a director, owner, trustee, officer,
employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter if the
plaintiff
in a tort
action establishes, by clear and convincing
evidence,
that a
director, owner, trustee, officer, employee,
victim advocate, or volunteer of the
shelter contributed to the
harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the
premises, by
an
action or
omission that involved malicious
purpose, bad
faith,
or wanton or reckless conduct. For purposes
of this
division,
"reckless conduct" includes the release of
confidential
information that pertains to a shelter client. Sec. 2305.239. (A) Sections 2305.237 and 2305.238 of the
Revised
Code do
not create a new cause of action or
substantive
legal right against a shelter for victims of domestic
violence or
a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate,
or volunteer of
the shelter. (B) Sections 2305.237 and 2305.238 of the Revised Code do
not affect any immunities from civil
liability or defenses
established under section 2305.234, 2744.02, or
2744.03 or another
section of the Revised Code or
available at
common law to which a
shelter for victims of domestic violence, a director, owner,
trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the
shelter, or a
political
subdivision associated with the shelter
may be entitled
in
connection with alleged tort liability of third
parties or in
connection with circumstances not
covered by
section
2305.237 or
2305.238 of the Revised Code.
SECTION 2. Sections 2305.236 to 2305.239 of the Revised
Code, as enacted by
this act, apply only to causes of action for
harm that shelter clients or other persons allegedly sustain on or
after the
effective
date of this act on or off the premises of a
shelter for
victims of
domestic violence.
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