BILL NUMBER: AB 2702 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 195
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 21, 1998
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 20, 1998
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 1998
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 2, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 1998
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Aroner
FEBRUARY 23, 1998
An act to amend Sections 51, 51.5, 51.8, and 52 of, and to add
Section 52.2 to, the Civil Code, relating to civil rights.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2702, Aroner. Civil rights: alteration of buildings: small
claims actions.
Existing law prohibits, and provides civil remedies for,
discrimination, boycotting, blacklisting, or the refusal to buy from
or sell to a person by business establishments, and discrimination by
franchisors, based on, among other things, a person's disability.
This existing law provides that it shall not be construed to require
any construction, alteration, repair, or modification of any new or
existing structure.
This bill would instead provide that these provisions of existing
law shall not be construed to impose any additional requirements,
beyond the requirements imposed by other laws, to construct, alter,
repair, or modify any new or existing structure.
Existing law limits the jurisdiction of the small claims court to
4 specified types of actions where the amount of the demand does not
exceed $5,000.
This bill would specify that the jurisdiction of the small claims
court includes actions for damages, not to exceed $5,000, for
specified acts of discrimination, boycotting, or blacklisting, or the
refusal to buy or sell to a person; for violence, threat of
violence, or intimidation based on specified characteristics of a
person; for denial or interference with the right of access of a
disabled person to specified public accommodations; and related civil
rights actions, as specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
51. This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Unruh
Civil Rights Act.
All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry,
national origin, or disability are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in
all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
This section shall not be construed to confer any right or
privilege on a person that is conditioned or limited by law or that
is applicable alike to persons of every sex, color, race, religion,
ancestry, national origin, or disability.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
A violation of the right of any individual under the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) shall also
constitute a violation of this section.
SEC. 2. Section 51.5 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
51.5. No business establishment of any kind whatsoever shall
discriminate against, boycott or blacklist, refuse to buy from, sell
to, or trade with any person in this state because of the race,
creed, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability of the
person or of the person's partners, members, stockholders, directors,
officers, managers, superintendents, agents, employees, business
associates, suppliers, or customers.
As used in this section, "person" includes any person, firm,
association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation,
limited liability company, or company.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
SEC. 3. Section 51.8 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
51.8. No franchisor shall discriminate in the granting of
franchises solely because of the race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, or disability of the franchisee and the racial, ethnic,
religious, national origin, or disability composition of a
neighborhood or geographic area in which the franchise is located.
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit a franchisor
from granting a franchise to prospective franchisees as part of a
program or programs to make franchises available to persons lacking
the capital, training, business experience, or other qualifications
ordinarily required of franchisees, or any other affirmative action
program adopted by the franchisor.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
SEC. 4. Section 52 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
52. (a) Whoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any
discrimination or distinction contrary to Section 51 or 51.5, is
liable for each and every offense 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 one thousand dollars ($1,000), and any attorney'
s fees that may be determined by the court in addition thereto,
suffered by any person denied the rights provided in Section 51 or
51.5.
(b) Whoever denies the right provided by Section 51.7, 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:
(1) An amount to be determined by a jury, or a court sitting
without a jury, for exemplary damages.
(2) A civil penalty of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) to
be awarded to the person denied the right provided by Section 51.7.
(3) Attorney's fees as may be determined by the court.
(c) 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 of the rights hereby secured, and that conduct is of
that nature and is intended to deny the full exercise of the rights
herein described, 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. The
complaint shall contain the following:
(1) The signature of the officer, or, in his or her absence, the
individual acting on behalf of the officer, or the signature of the
person aggrieved.
(2) The facts pertaining to the conduct.
(3) A request for preventive relief, including an application for
a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other
order against the person or persons responsible for the conduct, as
the complainant deems necessary to insure the full enjoyment of the
rights herein described.
(d) Whenever an action has been commenced in any court seeking
relief from the denial of equal protection of the laws under the
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on
account of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or
disability, the Attorney General or any district attorney or city
attorney for or in the name of the people of the State of California
may intervene in the action upon timely application if the Attorney
General or any district attorney or city attorney certifies that the
case is of general public importance. In that action, the people of
the State of California shall be entitled to the same relief as if it
had instituted the action.
(e) Actions under this section shall be independent of any other
remedies or procedures that may be available to an aggrieved party.
(f) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful
practice in violation of Section 51 or 51.7 may also file a verified
complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing pursuant
to Section 12948 of the Government Code.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
(h) For the purposes of this section, "actual damages" means
special and general damages. This subdivision is declaratory of
existing law.
SEC. 5. Section 52.2 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
52.2. An action pursuant to Section 52 or 54.3 may be brought in
any court of competent jurisdiction. A "court of competent
jurisdiction" shall include small claims court if the amount of the
damages sought in the action does not exceed five thousand dollars
($5,000).