Bill > AB2570

This bill, by adding Section 143.5 to the Business and Professions Code, aims to prevent licensees regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs (which includes various boards, bureaus, and programs overseeing professions and vocations) and their agents from including clauses in civil settlement agreements that would stop the other party from contacting, filing complaints with, or cooperating with the regulating department, board, bureau, or program, or that would require them to withdraw existing complaints. Such clauses are declared void and against public policy, and violating this could lead to disciplinary action against the licensee. The bill also states that if a regulatory body takes disciplinary action based on a complaint that was part of a settled civil case, it cannot force the licensee to pay additional money to the plaintiff in that civil case. The bill defines "board" and "licensee" for clarity and allows these regulatory bodies, under specific circumstances and after a petition process, to adopt regulations that exempt certain civil settlement agreements from these restrictions if the underlying civil cause of action is irrelevant to the board's public protection duties. However, this exemption process is discretionary, and the bill does not prevent licensees from including other permissible provisions in settlement agreements, nor does it apply to licensees already subject to Section 2220.7.