BILL NUMBER: AB 987	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section 12940 of the Government Code, relating to
employment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 987, as introduced, Levine. Employment discrimination, unlawful
employment practices.
   Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act,
protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to
seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment,
or harassment on account of race, religious creed, color, national
origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical
condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and
veteran status.
   Existing law, requires an employer or other entity covered by the
act to provide reasonable accommodation of, among other things, a
person's disability and religious beliefs and prohibits
discrimination against any person because the person has opposed any
practices forbidden under the act or because the person has filed a
complaint.
   This bill would, in addition, prohibit an employer or other
covered entity from retaliating or otherwise discriminating against a
person for requesting accommodation of his or her disability or
religious beliefs, regardless of whether the accommodation request
was granted. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) A request for reasonable accommodation based on religion or
disability constitutes protected activity under Government Code
Section 12940, such that when a person makes such a request, he or
she is protected against retaliation for making the request.
   (b) The Legislature recognizes that federal law affords similar
protection to a person making such a request, as articulated by the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its interpretative
guidance of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (Public Law
101-336) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law
88-352, as amended). The Legislature affirms that the federal acts
provide a floor of protection and that this state's law has always
exceeded in the protections afforded.
   (c) The law of this state contains similar protections for a
person making a request for reasonable accommodation under the
Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (Section 12945 of the Government Code)
and the California Family Rights Act (Sections 12945.2 and 19702.3
of the Government Code). It is the intent of the Legislature for the
protections afforded a person making a request for accommodation on
the basis of religion or disability to be consistent with the
provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (Part 2.8
Commencing with Section 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.
   (d) Notwithstanding any interpretation of this issue in Rope v.
Auto-Chlor Sys. of Washington, Inc., (2013) 220 Cal. App. 4th 635,
the Legislature intends (1) to make clear that a request for
reasonable accommodation on the basis of religion or disability is a
protected activity, and (2) by enacting paragraph (2) of subdivision
(m) and paragraph (4) of subdivision (l) of Section 12940, to provide
protection against retaliation when an individual makes a request
for reasonable accommodation under these sections, regardless of
whether the request was granted. With the exception of its holding on
this issue, Rope v. Auto-Chlor Sys. of Washington, Inc., (2013) 220
Cal. App. 4th 635 remains good law.
  SEC. 2.  Section 12940 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   12940.  It is an unlawful employment practice, unless based upon a
bona fide occupational qualification, or, except where based upon
applicable security regulations established by the United States or
the State of California:
   (a) For an employer, because of the race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or
military and veteran status of any person, to refuse to hire or
employ the person or to refuse to select the person for a training
program leading to employment, or to bar or to discharge the person
from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or
to discriminate against the person in compensation or in terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment.
   (1) This part does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire
or discharging an employee with a physical or mental disability, or
subject an employer to any legal liability resulting from the refusal
to employ or the discharge of an employee with a physical or mental
disability, where the employee, because of his or her physical or
mental disability, is unable to perform his or her essential duties
even with reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties
in a manner that would not endanger his or her health or safety or
the health or safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.
   (2) This part does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire
or discharging an employee who, because of the employee's medical
condition, is unable to perform his or her essential duties even with
reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties in a
manner that would not endanger the employee's health or safety or the
health or safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.
Nothing in this part shall subject an employer to any legal liability
resulting from the refusal to employ or the discharge of an employee
who, because of the employee's medical condition, is unable to
perform his or her essential duties, or cannot perform those duties
in a manner that would not endanger the employee's health or safety
or the health or safety of others even with reasonable
accommodations.
   (3) Nothing in this part relating to discrimination on account of
marital status shall do either of the following:
   (A) Affect the right of an employer to reasonably regulate, for
reasons of supervision, safety, security, or morale, the working of
spouses in the same department, division, or facility, consistent
with the rules and regulations adopted by the commission.
   (B) Prohibit bona fide health plans from providing additional or
greater benefits to employees with dependents than to those employees
without or with fewer dependents.
   (4) Nothing in this part relating to discrimination on account of
sex shall affect the right of an employer to use veteran status as a
factor in employee selection or to give special consideration to
Vietnam-era veterans.
   (5) (A) This part does not prohibit an employer from refusing to
employ an individual because of his or her age if the law compels or
provides for that refusal. Promotions within the existing staff,
hiring or promotion on the basis of experience and training, rehiring
on the basis of seniority and prior service with the employer, or
hiring under an established recruiting program from high schools,
colleges, universities, or trade schools do not, in and of
themselves, constitute unlawful employment practices.
   (B) The provisions of this part relating to discrimination on the
basis of age do not prohibit an employer from providing health
benefits or health care reimbursement plans to retired persons that
are altered, reduced, or eliminated when the person becomes eligible
for Medicare health benefits. This subparagraph applies to all
retiree health benefit plans and contractual provisions or practices
concerning retiree health benefits and health care reimbursement
plans in effect on or after January 1, 2011.
   (b) For a labor organization, because of the race, religious
creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status,
sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual
orientation, or military and veteran status of any person, to
exclude, expel, or restrict from its membership the person, or to
provide only second-class or segregated membership or to discriminate
against any person because of the race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or
military and veteran status of the person in the election of officers
of the labor organization or in the selection of the labor
organization's staff or to discriminate in any way against any of its
members or against any employer or against any person employed by an
employer.
   (c) For any person to discriminate against any person in the
selection, termination, training, or other terms or treatment of that
person in any apprenticeship training program, any other training
program leading to employment, an unpaid internship, or another
limited duration program to provide unpaid work experience for that
person because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin,
ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition,
genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran
status of the person discriminated against.
   (d) For any employer or employment agency to print or circulate or
cause to be printed or circulated any publication, or to make any
nonjob-related inquiry of an employee or applicant, either verbal or
through use of an application form, that expresses, directly or
indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to
race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic
information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender
expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status,
or any intent to make any such limitation, specification, or
discrimination. This part does not prohibit an employer or employment
agency from inquiring into the age of an applicant, or from
specifying age limitations, where the law compels or provides for
that action.
   (e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), for any
employer or employment agency to require any medical or psychological
examination of an applicant, to make any medical or psychological
inquiry of an applicant, to make any inquiry whether an applicant has
a mental disability or physical disability or medical condition, or
to make any inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical
disability, mental disability, or medical condition.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may inquire into the ability of an applicant to perform
job-related functions and may respond to an applicant's request for
reasonable accommodation.
   (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may require a medical or psychological examination or make a
medical or psychological inquiry of a job applicant after an
employment offer has been made but prior to the commencement of
employment duties, provided that the examination or inquiry is job
related and consistent with business necessity and that all entering
employees in the same job classification are subject to the same
examination or inquiry.
   (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for any employer or
employment agency to require any medical or psychological examination
of an employee, to make any medical or psychological inquiry of an
employee, to make any inquiry whether an employee has a mental
disability, physical disability, or medical condition, or to make any
inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical disability,
mental disability, or medical condition.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may require any examinations or inquiries that it can show to
be job related and consistent with business necessity. An employer or
employment agency may conduct voluntary medical examinations,
including voluntary medical histories, which are part of an employee
health program available to employees at that worksite.
   (g) For any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to
harass, discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any
person because the person has made a report pursuant to Section
11161.8 of the Penal Code that prohibits retaliation against hospital
employees who report suspected patient abuse by health facilities or
community care facilities.
   (h) For any employer, labor organization, employment agency, or
person to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any
person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under
this part or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or
assisted in any proceeding under this part.
   (i) For any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the
doing of any of the acts forbidden under this part, or to attempt to
do so.
   (j) (1) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency,
apprenticeship training program or any training program leading to
employment, or any other person, because of race, religious creed,
color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status,
sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual
orientation, or military and veteran status, to harass an employee,
an applicant, an unpaid intern or volunteer, or a person providing
services pursuant to a contract. Harassment of an employee, an
applicant, an unpaid intern or volunteer, or a person providing
services pursuant to a contract by an employee, other than an agent
or supervisor, shall be unlawful if the entity, or its agents or
supervisors, knows or should have known of this conduct and fails to
take immediate and appropriate corrective action. An employer may
also be responsible for the acts of nonemployees, with respect to
sexual harassment of employees, applicants, unpaid interns or
volunteers, or persons providing services pursuant to a contract in
the workplace, where the employer, or its agents or supervisors,
knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate
and appropriate corrective action. In reviewing cases involving the
acts of nonemployees, the extent of the employer's control and any
other legal responsibility that the employer may have with respect to
the conduct of those nonemployees shall be considered. An entity
shall take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring.
Loss of tangible job benefits shall not be necessary in order to
establish harassment.
   (2) The provisions of this subdivision are declaratory of existing
law, except for the new duties imposed on employers with regard to
harassment.
   (3) An employee of an entity subject to this subdivision is
personally liable for any harassment prohibited by this section that
is perpetrated by the employee, regardless of whether the employer or
covered entity knows or should have known of the conduct and fails
to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
   (4) (A) For purposes of this subdivision only, "employer" means
any person regularly employing one or more persons or regularly
receiving the services of one or more persons providing services
pursuant to a contract, or any person acting as an agent of an
employer, directly or indirectly, the state, or any political or
civil subdivision of the state, and cities. The definition of
"employer" in subdivision (d) of Section 12926 applies to all
provisions of this section other than this subdivision.
   (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for purposes of this
subdivision, "employer" does not include a religious association or
corporation not organized for private profit, except as provided in
Section 12926.2.
   (C) For purposes of this subdivision, "harassment" because of sex
includes sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based
on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Sexually
harassing conduct need not be motivated by sexual desire.
   (5) For purposes of this subdivision, "a person providing services
pursuant to a contract" means a person who meets all of the
following criteria:
   (A) The person has the right to control the performance of the
contract for services and discretion as to the manner of performance.

   (B) The person is customarily engaged in an independently
established business.
   (C) The person has control over the time and place the work is
performed, supplies the tools and instruments used in the work, and
performs work that requires a particular skill not ordinarily used in
the course of the employer's work.
   (k) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency,
apprenticeship training program, or any training program leading to
employment, to fail to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent
discrimination and harassment from occurring.
   (l) (1) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to
refuse to hire or employ a person or to refuse to select a person for
a training program leading to employment or to bar or to discharge a
person from employment or from a training program leading to
employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in
terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of a conflict
between the person's religious belief or observance and any
employment requirement, unless the employer or other entity covered
by this part demonstrates that it has explored any available
reasonable alternative means of accommodating the religious belief or
observance, including the possibilities of excusing the person from
those duties that conflict with his or her religious belief or
observance or permitting those duties to be performed at another time
or by another person, but is unable to reasonably accommodate the
religious belief or observance without undue hardship, as defined in
subdivision (u) of Section 12926, on the conduct of the business of
the employer or other entity covered by this part. Religious belief
or observance, as used in this section, includes, but is not limited
to, observance of a Sabbath or other religious holy day or days,
reasonable time necessary for travel prior and subsequent to a
religious observance, and religious dress practice and religious
grooming practice as described in subdivision (q) of Section 12926.
This subdivision shall also apply to an apprenticeship training
program, an unpaid internship, and any other program to provide
unpaid experience for a person in the workplace or industry.
   (2) An accommodation of an individual's religious dress practice
or religious grooming practice is not reasonable if the accommodation
requires segregation of the individual from other employees or the
public.
   (3) An accommodation is not required under this subdivision if it
would result in a violation of this part or any other law prohibiting
discrimination or protecting civil rights, including subdivision (b)
of Section 51 of the Civil Code and Section 11135 of this code. 

   (4) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to, in
addition to the employee protections provided pursuant to subdivision
(h), retaliate or otherwise discriminate against a person for
requesting accommodation under this subdivision, regardless of
whether the request was granted. 
   (m)  (1)    For an employer or other entity
covered by this part to fail to make reasonable accommodation for the
known physical or mental disability of an applicant or employee.
Nothing in this subdivision or in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision
(a) shall be construed to require an accommodation that is
demonstrated by the employer or other covered entity to produce undue
hardship, as defined in subdivision (u) of Section 12926, to its
operation. 
   (2) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to, in
addition to the employee protections provided pursuant to subdivision
(h), retaliate or otherwise discriminate against a person for
requesting accommodation under this subdivision, regardless of
whether the request was granted. 
   (n) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to fail
to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process with the
employee or applicant to determine effective reasonable
accommodations, if any, in response to a request for reasonable
accommodation by an employee or applicant with a known physical or
mental disability or known medical condition.
   (o) For an employer or other entity covered by this part, to
subject, directly or indirectly, any employee, applicant, or other
person to a test for the presence of a genetic characteristic.
   (p) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as preventing the
ability of employers to identify members of the military or veterans
for purposes of awarding a veteran's preference as permitted by law.