The next issue is whether an ArchiteXX employee is criminally liable for making a report where there was cause to suspect abuse but no abuse was present. Under Texas Law, those acting in good faith when reporting suspected abuse, where there is a reasonable cause to believe abuse is present, is immune from civil and criminal liability. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN.§ 261 (2005); Chaney v. Corona, 103 S.W.3d 608, 610 (Tex.App. 2003). In general, state courts have held immunity from liability, where there is reasonable cause to believe child abuse. Danny R. Veilleux, Annotation, Validity, Construction, and Application of State Statute Requiring Doctor or Other Person to Report Child Abuse, 73 A.L.R.4th 782 §3 (1989). In Chaney v. Corona, a schoolteacher brought action against a principal, for reporting suspected abuse by that teacher, claiming that the report had malicious intent. Chaney v. Corona, 103 S.W.3d 608, 611 (Tex.App. 2003). The court held that the test to determine good faith is the …show more content…
Like the principal in Chaney v. Corona, an ArchiteXX employee, in Texas, only has to show that a reasonable person, acting in a similar circumstance and profession, would have suspected abuse. Thus, ArchiteXX should have mandated training or creating guidelines allows for employees of the bus to effectively spot potential abuse as well as to be confident in reporting their findings. The creation of these guidelines provide for a stronger case to illustrate the provider acted in good faith if it demonstrated that the employees were trained to spot the signs and were confident about their report. In Chaney v. Corona, the reasonable principal standard applied, not a general reasonable person standard. There is a distinction because a principal has more knowledge of potential abuse as well as specialized training to recognize