Evidence: privileges and exclusions.

Senator Smallwood-Cuevas's proposed legislation would establish new evidentiary privileges protecting information obtained through bias mitigation programs for public employees in California. The bill creates legal mechanisms allowing both public entities and their employees to prevent disclosure of bias-related assessments and mitigation strategies developed during workplace training programs.

The legislation defines bias mitigation efforts as employer-provided training that addresses conscious and unconscious bias, including bias testing, analysis, training sessions, and progress tracking. Under the proposed rules, public entities and employees could refuse to disclose information from these programs in civil proceedings, including personal bias assessments and specific strategies developed to address identified biases. The bill explicitly states this privilege would not apply in criminal proceedings.

The measure would also make evidence related to bias mitigation efforts confidential and inadmissible in civil cases. This provision covers program results and specific bias-reduction strategies developed for individual employees, while maintaining the availability of relevant bias-related evidence for criminal proceedings. The bill requires no new state funding and would take effect through existing administrative frameworks within public entities.