BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1684
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1684 (Mark Stone) - As Amended March 17, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill:
1)Authorizes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing
(DFEH) to investigate and prosecute complaints of human
trafficking and to bring a civil action on behalf of a person
harmed by human trafficking.
2)Stipulates that damages awarded pursuant to a civil action per
AB 1684
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(1) shall be awarded to the person harmed, and that any costs
and attorney's fees awarded shall be awarded to DFEH.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Any costs to the DFEH should be absorbable and will be partially
offset by awarded costs and attorney's fees. For 2016-17, the
department's proposed budget totals $26 million and includes 177
positions.
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. Human trafficking is generally defined
as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit another
person for forced labor or sexual services, or both. Under
current law, "deprives or violates the personal liberty of
another . . . [in order to] obtain forced labor or services" is
guilty of a felony. AB 22 (Chapter 240, Statutes of 2005), which
first made human trafficking a felony, also enacted Civil Code
Section 52.5, which authorized a victim of human trafficking to
bring a civil action for damages against the criminal
perpetrator. Since the enactment of AB 22, however, Civil Code
Section 52.5 has been underused, presumably because victims
often lack the necessary resources, information, and a realistic
opportunity to bring a lawsuit on their own.
This measure seeks to address this situation by authorizing the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to bring a
civil action pursuant to Section 52.5 on the victim's behalf.
There is well-established precedent for granting DFEH authority
to bring civil actions on behalf of victims who have experienced
a violation of their civil and personal rights. For example,
pursuant to Government Code Section 12930, DFEH has the right to
investigate and prosecute violations of the Civil Code Section
AB 1684
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51 (the Unruh Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in
business establishments); Section 51.5 (relating to
discriminatory boycotts); Section 51.7 (the Ralph Civil Rights
Act prohibiting violence or intimidation against another based
on protected characteristics); Section 51.9 (prohibiting sexual
harassment); and Sections 54 and 54.1 (relating to access to
public facilities).
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081