(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of any personal information received, collected, or compiled by a public agency regarding the employees, volunteers, board members, owners, partners, officers, or contractors of a reproductive health services facility who have notified the public agency pursuant to subdivision (d) if the personal information is contained in a document that relates to the facility.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Contractor” means an individual or entity that contracts with a reproductive health services facility for services related to patient care.
(2) “Personal information” means the following information related to an individual that is maintained by a public agency: social security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, statements of personal worth or personal financial data filed pursuant to subdivision (n) of Section 6254, personal medical history, employment history, electronic mail address, and information that reveals any electronic network location or identity.
(3) “Public agency” means all of the following:
(A) The State Department of Health Care Services.
(B) The Department of Consumer Affairs.
(C) The Department of Managed Health Care.
(D) The State Department of Public Health.
(4) “Reproductive health services facility” means the office of a licensed physician and surgeon whose specialty is family practice, obstetrics, or gynecology, or a licensed clinic, where at least 50 percent of the patients of the physician or the clinic are provided with family planning or abortion services.
(c) Any person may institute proceedings for injunctive or declarative relief or writ of mandate in any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain access to employment history information pursuant to Sections 6258 and 6259. If the court finds, based on the facts of a particular case, that the public interest served by disclosure of employment history information clearly outweighs the public interest served by not disclosing the information, the court shall order the officer or person charged with withholding the information to disclose employment history information or show cause why he or she should not do so pursuant to Section 6259.
(d) In order for this section to apply to an individual who is an employee, volunteer, board member, officer, or contractor of a reproductive health services facility, the individual shall notify the public agency to which his or her personal information is being submitted or has been submitted that he or she falls within the application of this section. The reproductive health services facility shall retain a copy of all notifications submitted pursuant to this section. This notification shall be valid if it complies with all of the following:
(1) Is on the official letterhead of the facility.
(2) Is clearly separate from any other language present on the same page and is executed by a signature that serves no other purpose than to execute the notification.
(3) Is signed and dated by both of the following:
(A) The individual whose information is being submitted.
(B) The executive officer or his or her designee of the reproductive health services facility.
(e) The privacy protections for personal information authorized pursuant to this section shall be effective from the time of notification pursuant to subdivision (d) until either one of the following occurs:
(1) Six months after the date of separation from a reproductive health services facility for an individual who has served for not more than one year as an employee, contractor, volunteer, board member, or officer of the reproductive health services facility.
(2) One year after the date of separation from a reproductive health services facility for an individual who has served for more than one year as an employee, contractor, volunteer, board member, or officer of the reproductive health services facility.
(f) Within 90 days of separation of an employee, contractor, volunteer, board member, or officer of the reproductive health services facility who has provided notice to a public agency pursuant to subdivision (c), the facility shall provide notice of the separation to the relevant agency or agencies.
(g) Nothing in this section shall prevent the disclosure by a government agency of data regarding age, race, ethnicity, national origin, or gender of individuals whose personal information is protected pursuant to this section, so long as the data contains no individually identifiable information.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 241, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2007. Operative July 1, 2007, by Sec. 37 of Ch. 241.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018