§ 81.003.Liability of Employer

Title 4. Liability in Tort · Chapter 81. Sexual Exploitation by Mental Health Services Provider · Last amended 2011 · Last verified August 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 81.003 makes an employer liable for failing to check a provider's prior employers, for failing to act on known exploitation, or for concealing it from a prospective employer, with special rules for clergy.

Full Text of § 81.003

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

(a)An employer of a mental health services provider is liable to a patient or former patient of the mental health services provider for damages if the patient or former patient is injured as described by Section 81.002 and the employer:

(1)fails to make inquiries of an employer or former employer, whose name and address have been disclosed to the employer and who employed the mental health services provider as a mental health services provider within the five years before the date of disclosure, concerning the possible occurrence of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider of patients or former patients of the mental health services provider; or

(2)knows or has reason to know that the mental health services provider engaged in sexual exploitation of a patient or former patient and the employer failed to:

(A)report the suspected sexual exploitation as required by Section 81.006; or

(B)take necessary action to prevent or stop the sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider.

(b)An employer or former employer of a mental health services provider is liable to a patient or former patient of the mental health services provider for damages if the patient or former patient is injured as described by Section 81.002 and the employer or former employer:

(1)knows of the occurrence of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider of a patient or former patient;

(2)receives a specific request by an employer or prospective employer of the mental health services provider, engaged in the business of providing mental health services, concerning the possible existence or nature of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider; and

(3)fails to disclose the occurrence of the sexual exploitation.

(c)An employer or former employer is liable under this section only to the extent that the failure to take the action described by Subsection (a) or (b) was a proximate and actual cause of damages sustained.

(d)If a mental health professional who sexually exploits a patient or former patient is a member of the clergy and the sexual exploitation occurs when the professional is acting as a member of the clergy, liability if any under this section is limited to the church, congregation, or parish in which the member of the clergy carried out the clergy member's pastoral duties:

(1)at the time the sexual exploitation occurs, if the liability is based on a violation of Subsection (a); or

(2)at the time of the previous occurrence of sexual exploitation, if the liability is based on a violation of Subsection (b).

(e)Nothing in Subsection (d) shall prevent the extension of liability under this section beyond the local church, congregation, or parish where the current or previous sexual exploitation occurred, as appropriate under Subsection (d), if the patient proves that officers or employees of the religious denomination in question at the regional, state, or national level:

(1)knew or should have known of the occurrences of sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider;

(2)received reports of such occurrences and failed to take necessary action to prevent or stop such sexual exploitation by the mental health services provider and that such failure was a proximate and actual cause of the damages; or

(3)knew or should have known of the mental health professional's propensity to engage in sexual exploitation.

End

Plain-English Summary

Employer liability, and it operates through three distinct failures.

The first is a hiring failure. An employer is liable if it fails to make inquiries of a prior employer — whose name and address were disclosed and who employed the provider within the five years before disclosure — concerning the possible occurrence of sexual exploitation.

The duty is to ask. An employer given a former employer's details and not asking about exploitation is exposed on that alone.

The second is a supervision failure. An employer is liable if it knows or has reason to know the provider engaged in exploitation and failed to report it as the chapter requires or failed to take necessary action to prevent or stop it.

The third runs against a former employer. One that knows of the occurrence, receives a specific request from a prospective employer in the mental health business, and fails to disclose is liable to the later victim.

Together the three close the pattern this chapter addresses: a provider who moves between employers, each of which knows something and none of which tells the next.

Subsection (c) limits all three to the extent the failure was a proximate and actual cause of the damages.

Subsections (d) and (e) address clergy. Liability is confined to the church, congregation, or parish where the clergy member carried out pastoral duties — but extends to the regional, state, or national denomination if officers there knew or should have known of the occurrences, received reports and failed to act, or knew or should have known of the propensity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an employer be liable for a therapist's sexual misconduct?

Yes, on three routes: failing to ask a disclosed prior employer about exploitation, knowing or having reason to know and failing to report or stop it, or as a former employer knowing of it and failing to disclose on a specific request.

Does the employer have to check references?

It must make inquiries of a prior employer whose name and address were disclosed and who employed the provider within the previous five years, about possible sexual exploitation.

How does it apply to churches?

Liability is limited to the church, congregation, or parish where the clergy member served, unless regional, state, or national officers knew or should have known of the occurrences or the propensity, or received reports and failed to act.

Amendment History

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 573, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1199 (S.B. 43), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from Texas Legislature Online (statutes.capitol.texas.gov). Enacted by the Texas Legislature. Current through May 14, 2026. Last verified August 29, 2026. · Official source