Bill Text: CA AB2667 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Civil rights: Unruh Civil Rights Act: waivers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-08-15 - Reconsideration granted. (Page 5795.) Stricken from file. [AB2667 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2667-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2667 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 19, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Thurmond
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Bonta, Mark Stone, and Weber )
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 51 of the Civil Code, relating to civil
rights.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2667, as amended, Thurmond. Civil rights: Unruh Civil Rights
Act: waivers.
The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides that all persons within the
jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal
accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their
sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability,
medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual
orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status.
This bill would require a waiver of a legal right, penalty,
remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights
Act, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or
complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any
other public prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, or any other governmental entity, to be
knowing and voluntary, in writing, and expressly not made as a
condition of entering into a contract for goods or services or as a
condition of providing or receiving goods and services. The bill,
among other things, would require a person who seeks to enforce a
waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a
violation of the act to have the burden of proving that the waiver
was knowing and voluntary and not made as a condition of the contract
or of providing or receiving the goods or services. The bill would
provide that, with certain exceptions, it applies to any agreement to
waive a legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a
violation of the act, including an agreement to accept private
arbitration, entered into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on
or after January 1, 2017. The bill would provide
that nothing in these provisions shall prohibit a person
from knowingly and voluntarily entering into binding arbitration.
The bill also would make findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the
policy of the State of California to ensure that all persons have the
full benefit of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, and
procedures established by the Unruh Civil Rights Act and that
individuals shall not be deprived of those rights, penalties,
remedies, forums, or procedures through the use of involuntary or
coerced waivers.
(b) It is the purpose of this act to ensure that a contract to
waive any of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures
under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, including any provision that has
the effect of limiting the full application or enforcement of any
right, remedy, forum, or procedure available under the Unruh Civil
Rights Act, is a matter of voluntary consent, not coercion.
SEC. 2. Section 51 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
51. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Unruh Civil Rights Act.
(b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic
information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary
language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in
all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
(c) This section shall not be construed to confer any right or
privilege on a person that is conditioned or limited by law or that
is applicable alike to persons of every sex, color, race, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital
status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or
immigration status, or to persons regardless of their genetic
information.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Disability" means any mental or physical disability as
defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code.
(2) (A) "Genetic information" means, with respect to any
individual, information about any of the following:
(i) The individual's genetic tests.
(ii) The genetic tests of family members of the individual.
(iii) The manifestation of a disease or disorder in family members
of the individual.
(B) "Genetic information" includes any request for, or receipt of,
genetic services, or participation in clinical research that
includes genetic services, by an individual or any family member of
the individual.
(C) "Genetic information" does not include information about the
sex or age of any individual.
(3) "Medical condition" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (i) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
(4) "Religion" includes all aspects of religious belief,
observance, and practice.
(5) "Sex" includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth,
or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. "Sex" also
includes, but is not limited to, a person's gender. "Gender" means
sex, and includes a person's gender identity and gender expression.
"Gender expression" means a person's gender-related appearance and
behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's
assigned sex at birth.
(6) "Sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status,
sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration
status" includes a perception that the person has any particular
characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or
that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived
to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the
listed categories.
(7) "Sexual orientation" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (s) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
(f) A violation of the right of any individual under the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) shall
also constitute a violation of this section.
(g) Verification of immigration status and any discrimination
based upon verified immigration status, where required by federal
law, shall not constitute a violation of this section.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the
provision of services or documents in a language other than English,
beyond that which is otherwise required by other provisions of
federal, state, or local law, including Section 1632.
(i) (1) A person shall not require another person to waive any
legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of
this section, as a condition of entering into a contract for goods or
services, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or
complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any
other public prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, or any court or other governmental
entity.
(2) A person shall not refuse to enter into a contract with, or
refuse to provide goods or services to, another person on the basis
that the other person refuses to waive any legal right, penalty,
remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this section,
including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint
with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any other public
prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing, or any other governmental entity.
(3) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
procedure for a violation of this section, including the right to
file and pursue a civil action or complaint with, or otherwise
notify, the Attorney General or any other public prosecutor, or law
enforcement agency, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, or
any other governmental entity shall be knowing and voluntary, and in
writing, and expressly not made as a condition of entering into a
contract for goods or services or as a condition of providing or
receiving goods and services. This paragraph shall not affect any
legal right, penalty, forum, or procedure for which state or federal
law prohibits waiver.
(4) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
procedure for a violation of this section that is required as a
condition of entering into a contract for goods or services shall be
deemed involuntary, unconscionable, against public policy, and
unenforceable. Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the
enforceability or validity of any other provision of the contract.
(5) Any person who seeks to enforce a waiver of any legal right,
penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this section
shall have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and
voluntary and not made as a condition of the contract or of providing
or receiving the goods or services.
(6) This subdivision shall apply to any agreement to waive any
legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of
this section, including an agreement to accept private arbitration,
entered into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after
January 1, 2017.
(7) In addition to injunctive relief and any other remedies
available, a court may award a plaintiff enforcing his or her rights
under this section reasonable attorney's fees.
(8) The provisions of this subdivision are severable. If any
provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
(j) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from knowingly
and voluntarily entering into binding arbitration.
