BILL NUMBER: AB 2149	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Butler

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to add Section 15657.8 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to elder and dependent adults.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2149, as introduced, Butler. Elder and dependent adult abuse:
settlement: gag order.
   The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
proscribes crimes against elder and dependent adults involving
physical and financial abuse. The act provides for the award of
attorney's fees and costs, and damages to a plaintiff, when it is
proven that a defendant is liable for physical abuse, neglect, or
financial abuse, and the defendant has also been guilty of
recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of the
abuse.
   The Civil Discovery Act provides that it is the policy of the
state that confidential settlement agreements are disfavored in any
civil action the factual foundation for which establishes a cause of
action for violation of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil
Protection Act. The Civil Discovery Act prohibits the court from
recognizing or enforcing provisions of such a confidential settlement
agreement in the absence of specified conditions.
   This bill would provide that an agreement to settle a civil action
for physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse of an elder or
dependent adult shall not include any provision that, among other
things, prohibits contact or cooperation with the county adult
protective services agency, the local law enforcement agency, the
long-term care ombudsman, the California Department of Aging, the
Department of Justice, or the Licensing and Certification Division of
the State Department of Public Health. The bill would provide that
any such provision is void as against public policy.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 15657.8 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   15657.8.  (a) An agreement to settle a civil action for physical
abuse, as defined in Section 15610.63, neglect, as defined in Section
15610.57, or financial abuse, as defined in Section 15610.30, of an
elder or dependent adult shall not include any of the following
provisions, whether the agreement is made before or after filing the
action:
   (1) A provision that prohibits any party to the dispute from
contacting or cooperating with the county adult protective services
agency, the local law enforcement agency, the long-term care
ombudsman, the California Department of Aging, the Department of
Justice, or the Licensing and Certification Division of the State
Department of Public Health.
   (2) A provision that prohibits any party to the dispute from
filing a complaint with, or reporting any violation of law to, the
county adult protective services agency, the local law enforcement
agency, the long-term care ombudsman, the California Department of
Aging, the Department of Justice, or the Licensing and Certification
Division of the State Department of Public Health.
   (3) A provision that requires any party to the dispute to withdraw
a complaint he or she has filed with, or a violation he or she has
reported to, the county adult protective services agency, the local
law enforcement agency, the long-term care ombudsman, the California
Department of Aging, the Department of Justice, or the Licensing and
Certification Division of the State Department of Public Health.
   (b) A provision described in subdivision (a) is void as against
public policy.