California Government Code 820.21 – (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the civil …
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the civil immunity of juvenile court social workers, child protection workers, and other public employees authorized to initiate or conduct investigations or proceedings pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall not extend to any of the following, if committed with malice:
(1) Perjury.
Terms Used In California Government Code 820.21
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(2) Fabrication of evidence.
(3) Failure to disclose known exculpatory evidence.
(4) Obtaining testimony by duress, as defined in § 1569 of the Civil Code, fraud, as defined in either Section 1572 or § 1573 of the Civil Code, or undue influence, as defined in § 1575 of the Civil Code.
(b) As used in this section, “malice” means conduct that is intended by the person described in subdivision (a) to cause injury to the plaintiff or despicable conduct that is carried on by the person described in subdivision (a) with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 977, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)