BILL NUMBER: AB 1520	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Judiciary (Assembly Members Mark Stone
(Chair), Alejo, Chau, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Holden, and O'Donnell)

                        MARCH 10, 2015

   An act to amend Section 51.7 of the Civil Code, and to repeal
Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976, relating to civil
rights.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1520, as introduced, Committee on Judiciary. Civil rights.
   The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 provides, in part, that all
persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be
free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, on
account of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital
status, or sexual orientation.
   This bill would repeal the provision entitling the Ralph Civil
Rights Act of 1976, and would instead state the findings of the
Legislature that the above-described provision was enacted as part of
the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.
   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.  Section 51.7 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   51.7.  (a) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state have
the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of
violence, committed against their persons or property because of
political affiliation, or on account of any characteristic listed or
defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51, or position in a
labor dispute, or because another person perceives them to have one
or more of those characteristics. The identification in this
subdivision of particular bases of discrimination is illustrative
rather than restrictive.
   (b) (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.
   (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) The exercise of a person's right to refuse to waive any legal
right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this
section, including a rejection of a contract requiring a waiver,
shall not affect any otherwise legal terms of a contract or an
agreement.
   (7) This subdivision shall not apply to any agreement to waive any
legal rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures for a
violation of this section after a legal claim has arisen.
   (8) 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, 2015.
   (c) This section does not apply to statements concerning positions
in a labor dispute that are made during otherwise lawful labor
picketing. 
   (d) The Legislature finds and declares that this section was
enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, in Chapter
1293 of the Statutes of 1976.  
   (d) 
    (e)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to
negate or otherwise abrogate the provisions of Sections 1668, 1953,
and 3513.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976 is
repealed. 
  SECTION 1.    This act shall be known, and may be
cited, as the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.