Civil actions: agreements settling actions involving public health or safety.

Existing law prohibits settlement agreements from containing provisions that prevent the disclosure of factual information related to specified claims or causes of action, such as information relating to an act of sexual harassment or an act that may be prosecuted as a felony sex offense. This bill would prohibit a provision within an agreement between the parties in an action the factual foundation for which establishes a cause of action for civil damages regarding a defective product or environmental hazard that poses a danger to public health or safety, as defined, that purports to restrict the disclosure of factual information related to the action. The bill would provide that those provisions are void as a matter of law and as against public policy and unenforceable, except as specified. The bill would provide that the disclosure of discoverable factual information relating to those actions must not be restricted by stipulation or by order of a court or arbitral tribunal, except for specified categories of information such as medical information, personal identifying information, the amount of the settlement, current proprietary customer lists, trade secrets, or citizenship or immigration status. The bill would allow a person for whom it is reasonably foreseeable that the person would be affected by a provision, agreement, or order, to challenge the provision, agreement, or order, as specified. The bill would allow a party, including an intervenor that has become a party, or a person whose attendance in the action or production of documents or other tangible things is required by subpoena, subpoena duces tecum, or other means, to file a motion for nondisclosure under these provisions. The bill would require a party requiring attendance in the action or production of documents of a person who is not a party to the action to provide a notice of the availability of a motion for nondisclosure of a proprietary customer list or trade secret to the person who is not a party to the action. The bill would provide that an attorney's failure to comply with these provisions may be grounds for professional discipline.