BILL NUMBER: AB 830	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  202
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 13, 2015
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  AUGUST 13, 2015
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 9, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JULY 13, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 23, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 7, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eggman
   (Coauthors: Senators Jackson, Leno, Monning, and Wieckowski)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section 52.4 of, and to add Section 52.45 to, the
Civil Code, relating to civil actions.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 830, Eggman. Civil actions: gender violence.
   Existing law allows a person who has been subjected to gender
violence to bring a civil action for damages against any responsible
party and defines gender violence for this purpose as a crime of
violence motivated by the gender of the victim or a physical
intrusion or invasion of a sexual nature, as specified. The Unruh
Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on a person's sex,
race, religion, or sexual orientation, among others, and specifies
that sex includes gender, which includes a person's gender identity
and gender expression.
   This bill, for the purposes of the former provision, would specify
that gender has the same meaning as in the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
The bill would also allow a person who has been subject to sexual
orientation violence, as defined, to bring a civil action for damages
against any responsible party under provisions identical to those
for gender violence.



THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 52.4 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   52.4.  (a) Any person who has been subjected to gender violence
may bring a civil action for damages against any responsible party.
The plaintiff may seek actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive
damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other
appropriate relief. A prevailing plaintiff may also be awarded
attorney's fees and costs.
   (b) An action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced
within three years of the act, or if the victim was a minor when the
act occurred, within eight years after the date the plaintiff attains
the age of majority or within three years after the date the
plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the
psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority
that was caused by the act, whichever date occurs later.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "gender violence" is a form of
sex discrimination and means either of the following:
   (1) One or more acts that would constitute a criminal offense
under state law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or
threatened use of physical force against the person or property of
another, committed at least in part based on the gender of the
victim, whether or not those acts have resulted in criminal
complaints, charges, prosecution, or conviction.
   (2) A physical intrusion or physical invasion of a sexual nature
under coercive conditions, whether or not those acts have resulted in
criminal complaints, charges, prosecution, or conviction.
   (d) For purposes of this section, "gender" has the meaning set
forth in Section 51.
   (e)  Notwithstanding any other laws that may establish the
liability of an employer for the acts of an employee, this section
does not establish any civil liability of a person because of his or
her status as an employer, unless the employer personally committed
an act of gender violence.
  SEC. 2.  Section 52.45 is added to the Civil Code, immediately
following Section 52.4, to read:
   52.45.  (a) Any person who has been subjected to sexual
orientation violence may bring a civil action for damages against any
responsible party. The plaintiff may seek actual damages,
compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any
combination of those, or any other appropriate relief. A prevailing
plaintiff may also be awarded attorney's fees and costs.
   (b) An action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced
within three years of the act, or if the victim was a minor when the
act occurred, within eight years after the date the plaintiff attains
the age of majority or within three years after the date the
plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the
psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority
that was caused by the act, whichever date occurs later.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "sexual orientation violence"
means one or more acts that would constitute a criminal offense under
state law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or
threatened use of physical force against the person or property of
another, committed at least in part based on the sexual orientation
of the victim, whether or not those acts have resulted in criminal
complaints, charges, prosecution, or conviction.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other laws that may establish the
liability of an employer for the acts of an employee, this section
does not establish any civil liability of a person because of his or
her status as an employer, unless the employer personally committed
an act of sexual orientation violence.