Amended in Senate May 10, 2016

Senate Bill No. 1406

Introduced by Senator Mendoza

February 19, 2016

An act to add Section 54.27 to the Civil Code, relating to disability access.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1406, as amended, Mendoza. Construction-related accessibility: public entities.

Existing law provides that individuals with disabilities or medical conditions have the same right as the general public to the full and free use of the streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, medical facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices, public facilities, and other public places. Existing law requires an attorney who begin insert provides a demand letter or end insert sends or serves a complaint containing a claim of a violation of any construction-related accessibility standard, as defined, with respect to a place of public accommodation, to send a copy of the begin insert demand letter or end insert complaint to the California Commission on Disability Access within 5 business days of begin insert providing the demand letter or end insert sending or serving the begin delete complaint and end delete begin insert complaint. Existing law further requires an attorney who sends or serves that complaint to end insert notify the commission of judgment, settlement, or dismissal of the claim or claims alleged in the complaint and other specified information within 5 business days of the judgment, settlement, or dismissal.

This bill would also require an attorney who begin insert provides a demand letter or end insert sends or serves a complaint alleging a construction-related accessibility claim, as defined, against a public begin delete entity end delete begin insert entity, as defined, end insert to send a copy of the begin delete complaint end delete begin insert demand letter or complaint to the commission within 5 business days of providing the demand letter or sending or serving the complaint, would require the attorney to also submit information about the complaint with the copy of the complaint, end insert and begin insert would further require the attorney to end insert submit the notification of judgment, settlement, or dismissal to the commission, as described above.

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.  

Section 54.27 is added to the Civil Code, to read:

54.27.  

(a) An attorney who begin delete sends end delete begin insert provides a demand letter
alleging a construction-related accessibility claim against a public
entity shall send a copy of the demand letter to the California
Commission on Disability Access within five business days of
providing the demand letter. end insert

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert An attorney who sends end insert or serves a complaint alleging a
construction-related accessibility claim against a public entity shall
do both of the following:

(1) Send a copy of the complaint begin delete to the end delete begin insert and submit information
about the complaint in a standard format specified by the end insert California
Commission on Disability Access begin insert to the commission end insert within five
business days of sending or serving the complaint.

(2) Notify the California Commission on Disability Access
within five business days of judgment, settlement, or dismissal of
the claim or claims alleged in the complaint of the following
information in a standard format specified by the commission:

(A) The date of the judgment, settlement, or dismissal.

(B) Whether or not the construction-related accessibility
violations alleged in the complaint were remedied in whole or in
part after the plaintiff filed a complaint.

(C) If the construction-related accessibility violations alleged
in the complaint were not remedied in whole or in part after the
plaintiff filed a complaint, whether or not another favorable result
was achieved after the plaintiff filed the complaint.

begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(1) “Construction-related accessibility claim” or “claim” means
any claim of a violation of any construction-related accessibility
standard, as defined by paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section
55.52, with respect to a public building, public facility, or other
public place.

(2) “Public entity” begin delete includes the state, end delete begin insert means end insert the Regents of the
University of California, the Trustees of the California State
University and the California State University, begin delete a county, city,
district, public authority, public agency, and any other political
subdivision or public corporation in the state, except that “public
entity” does not include “state entity” as defined in subdivision
(d) of Section 7103 of the Public Contract Code. end delete begin insert the California
Community Colleges Office of the Chancellor and the California
Community Colleges, a K- end insert begin insert 12 school district, or any local education
agency. end insert