2018 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 27 - Public Assistance
Article 7A - Employee Abuse Registry Act
Section 27-7A-6 - Placement on registry and hearing process.
A. If the department or the adult protective services division of the aging and long-term services department determines that abuse, neglect or exploitation by an employee has occurred, the department making that determination shall notify the employee and the provider, in person or by certified mail, of the following:
(1) the nature of the determination of the abuse, neglect or exploitation;
(2) the date and time of the occurrence;
(3) the employee's right to a hearing;
(4) the department's intent to report the substantiated findings, once the employee has had the opportunity for a hearing, to the registry; and
(5) that the employee's failure to request a hearing in writing within thirty days from the date of the notice shall result in the department reporting substantiated findings to the registry and the provider.
B. If an employee requests a hearing, that hearing shall be conducted by an independent hearing officer of the department that made the determination of abuse, neglect or exploitation.
C. After expiration of the time period for requesting a hearing, or if a determination of abuse, neglect or exploitation is substantiated through the hearing process, the substantiated finding of abuse, neglect or exploitation shall be placed on the registry through a report of the appropriate department.
D. An employee aggrieved by the final decision following a hearing shall have the right to judicial review pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.
History: Laws 2005, ch. 256, § 6.
Cross reference. — For the adult protective services division of the aging and long-term services department, see Sections 9-23-1 through 9-23-12 NMSA 1978.
Effective dates. — Laws 2005, ch. 256 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 17, 2005, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.
No denial of procedural due process. — Where plaintiff, who was a certified nurse aide, was terminated by a health care facility for abusing residents of the facility; the department of health notified plaintiff that it had found the allegation to be valid; a hearing officer found that plaintiff had abused residents of the facility; the secretary of the department reviewed the hearing officers' report and ordered that plaintiff's name be placed on the nurse registry, effectively ending plaintiff's ability to find employment as a certified nurse aide; the department's regulations applicable to employees required a determination of the severity of abuse for purposes of deciding if an employee was to be placed on the registry; the regulations applicable to nurse aides did not require a determination of the severity of abuse and defined "abuse" to include conduct likely to cause harm to residents; and plaintiff claimed that plaintiff had been denied procedural due process because the regulations did not provide for an assessment of the severity of the alleged abuse or the impact of the abuse on the residents which created a risk of erroneous deprivation of plaintiff's property interest in continuing employment as a nurse aide, the regulations did not deprive plaintiff of procedural due process because the definition of "abuse" was sufficiently specific to put plaintiff on notice of the conduct that constituted abuse and plaintiff's conduct underwent three stages of review before the finding of abuse was placed on the registry. Victor v. N.M. Dep't of Health, 2014-NMCA-012.
