BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1684| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 1684 Author: Mark Stone (D) Amended: 3/17/16 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16 AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Civil actions: human trafficking SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill, independent of any other remedy or procedure that might apply, provides the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) with the authority to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute human trafficking complaints on behalf of a human trafficking victim, as specified. Damages awarded in any such DFEH action shall be awarded to the person harmed by the violation of human trafficking, as specified, but costs and attorney's fees awarded in any such action shall be awarded to the DFEH. ANALYSIS: Existing law: AB 1684 Page 2 1)Provides, under Section 236.1 of the Penal Code, that any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another is guilty of human trafficking if the person has the intent to: (1) effect or maintain specified felony prostitution-related offenses; (2) commit extortion, (3) use a minor to produce or distribute obscene material or child pornography; or (4) obtain forced labor or services. Existing law provides for various specified fines and imprisonment for the crime of human trafficking. 2)Provides for various civil actions based on violations of a person's civil or personal rights, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Ralph Civil Rights Act, and the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act, among others. 3)Authorizes a victim of human trafficking, under the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act (Section 52.5 of the Civil Code), to bring a civil action for actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other appropriate relief. A prevailing plaintiff may also be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs including, but not limited to, expert witness fees and expenses as part of the costs. 4)Requires such actions to be brought within seven years of the date on which the trafficking victim was freed from the trafficking situation, or if the victim was a minor when the act of human trafficking against the victim occurred, within 10 years after the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority. Existing law provides for the stay of these actions and the tolling of the statute of limitations for these actions under specified circumstances. 5)Provides that whoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to specified civil and personal rights is liable for each and every offense AB 1684 Page 3 for the actual damages, and any amount that may be determined by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, up to a maximum of three times the amount of actual damage but in no case less than $4,000, and any attorney's fees that may be determined by the court in addition thereto. 6)Provides, in relevant part, that whoever denies a right provided by Section 51.7 (the Ralph Civil Rights Act), or aids, incites, or conspires in that denial, is liable for each and every offense for the actual damages suffered by any person denied that right and, in addition, the following: an amount to be determined by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, for exemplary damages; a civil penalty of $25,000 to be awarded to the person denied the right provided by the Ralph Civil Rights Act in any action brought by the person denied the right, or by the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney; and attorney's fees as may be determined by the court. 1)Provides that whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in conduct of resistance to the full enjoyment of any civil or personal rights, as specified, and that conduct is of that nature and is intended to deny the full exercise of those rights, the Attorney General, any district attorney or city attorney, or any person aggrieved by the conduct, may bring a civil action in the appropriate court by filing with it a complaint. 2)Provides that actions brought pursuant to the above provisions are independent of any other actions, remedies, or procedures that may be available to an aggrieved party pursuant to any other law. 3)Specifies the functions, powers, and duties of the DFEH, which AB 1684 Page 4 include, among other things, to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging practices made unlawful pursuant to the Fair Employment and Housing Act and other specified nondiscrimination or personal and civil rights laws, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of certain characteristics in business practices) and the Ralph Civil Rights Act (relating to the right to be free from hate violence based on certain characteristics), among others. This bill: 1)Authorizes the DFEH to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging human trafficking, and bring civil actions for, a victim of human trafficking, as described above. 2)Specifies that any damages awarded in any action brought by the DFEH pursuant to the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act shall be awarded to the person harmed by the violation of Section 236.1 of the Penal Code (making human trafficking a felony), above. 3)Specifies that costs and attorney's fees awarded in such an action shall be awarded to the DFEH and that these remedies and procedures shall be independent of any other remedy or procedure that might apply. Background In 2005, AB 22 (Lieber, Keuhl and Liu, Chapter 240, Statutes of 2005) enacted the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act, explicitly rendering human trafficking a felony in this state and adding a new civil rights statute to grant human trafficking victims a longer statute of limitations period than other victims of civil rights crimes to bring their claims due to the AB 1684 Page 5 special circumstances faced by those victims. (See Pen. Code Sec. 236.1 and Civ. Code Sec. 52.5.) Specifically, the resulting statute, as amended by subsequent legislation, permits a victim of human trafficking to bring a civil action to recover actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other appropriate relief, and sets the statute of limitations for bringing such claims within seven years of the date on which the trafficking victim was freed from the trafficking situation. Moreover, if the victim was a minor when the act of human trafficking against the victim occurred, the statute of limitations is extended to ten years after the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority. This bill seeks to allow the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to receive, investigate, and prosecute claims that may be brought under the state's Trafficking Victims Protection Act on behalf of victims of human trafficking, as specified. Comments According to the author, "existing law already allows a victim of human trafficking to bring a civil action against the perpetrator. However, this statute has rarely if ever been used. Victims of human trafficking lack the resources and information to make use of their right to bring an action and receive compensation for harm suffered. This bill would allow DFEH to bring an action on the victim's behalf and award damages and penalties to the victim." FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified6/27/16) AB 1684 Page 6 Consumer Attorneys of California OPPOSITION: (Verified6/27/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support of the bill, the Consumer Attorneys of California writes: It has been over ten years since California adopted a comprehensive approach to human trafficking. AB 22 (Chapter 240, Stats. of 2005) created a human trafficking task force, added a chapter to the Penal Code defining the crime of human trafficking and providing penalties, and created a civil cause of action for victims of human trafficking. In 2012, Attorney General Kamala Harris convened a working group to reassess human trafficking in our state. The working group's final report noted [that] in "just two years of reporting, California's nine regional anti-trafficking task forces initiated over 2,500 investigations, identified almost 1,300 victims of human trafficking, and arrested almost 1,800 individuals." Despite those actions, the report concluded that human trafficking continues to be "a substantial problem facing California" and, in some ways, has become worse due to the increasing role played by transnational and domestic criminal networks. This bill seeks to address the problem by effectively authorizing [. . . ] the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to bring a civil action on the victim's behalf. Although existing law allows victims to bring civil actions against perpetrators for actual and punitive damages, many victims lack resources to bring an action. This bill would allow public authorities to bring actions and award damages to victims." AB 1684 Page 7 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Irwin, Levine, Melendez, Nazarian Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113 6/29/16 15:50:38 **** END ****