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Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 25, 2015
Volunteer Organization Protection Act of 2015
Amends the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 to expand liability protections to volunteer nonprofit organizations for harm caused by an act or omission of a volunteer on behalf of the organization.
Prohibits such liability protections from applying if the organization: (1) would be liable under laws governing the direct or vicarious liability of organizations, and (2) expressly authorized the specific conduct constituting the act or omission.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Bars such an organization from liability for harm caused by the organization, or a volunteer acting on its behalf, if the act or omission was at the request of, or pursuant to an authorization by, the federal government, a state government, or another governmental subdivision, provided that: (1) the requesting or authorizing governmental entity would have been immune from suit or from liability in damages if the entity had engaged in the act or omission itself or through an employee, agent, or independent contractor; or (2) any governmental employee, agent, or contractor who had engaged in the act or omission on behalf of the requesting or authorizing governmental entity would have been immune from suit or from liability in damages by virtue of immunity extended to individual governmental actors.
Prohibits punitive damages from being awarded against a volunteer nonprofit organization for the actions of a volunteer within the scope of the volunteer's responsibilities to the organization unless the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the organization itself expressly authorized the volunteer's action with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed.
Sets forth factors to be considered to determine whether a nonprofit organization is presumed to be a volunteer nonprofit organization.
People & committees
Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL] · R–IL
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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