BILL NUMBER: AB 1680	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Saldana

                        JANUARY 25, 2010

   An act to amend Section 51.7 of the Civil Code, relating to civil
rights.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1680, as introduced, Saldana. Civil Rights Act: waiver of
rights.
   The Unruh Civil Rights Act generally prohibits business
establishments from discriminating on the basis of sex, race, color,
religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, or medical
condition. The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides civil remedies for
violations of its provisions.
    This bill would prohibit a person from requiring a waiver of the
protections afforded under this act as a condition of entering into a
contract or agreement or as a condition for the provision of goods
and services. This bill would create a presumption that any waiver of
the protections afforded under the act is in violation of the act
unless the person that alleges the waiver verifies that the waiver is
in writing and contains a statement that the waiver is voluntarily
and knowingly made and is not made as a condition of either entering
into an agreement or contract or for the provision of goods and
services. These provisions would apply to contracts entered into,
removed, altered, modified, or extended on and after January 1, 2012.

   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) No person, as a condition of entering into a contract or
an agreement with, or for the provision of goods and services to,
that person, shall require the waiver of any legal right, duty,
remedy, forum, or procedure, including the right to file and pursue a
complaint with any law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing, or any other entity, for any violation of
this section.  
   (2) No person shall refuse to enter into an agreement or 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,
duty, remedy, forum, or procedure, including the right to file and
pursue a complaint with any law enforcement agency, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, or any other entity, for any violation
of this section.  
   (3) Any waiver of any legal right, duty, remedy, forum, or
procedure, including the right to file and pursue a complaint with
any law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing, or any other entity, for any violation of this section,
shall be expressed in writing with a statement that the waiver is
voluntarily and knowingly made and that the waiver is not made as a
condition of entering into an agreement or contract or as a condition
of providing or receiving goods and services.  
   (4) Any waiver of any legal right, duty, remedy, forum, or
procedure, including the right to file and pursue a complaint with
any law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing, or any other entity, for a violation of this section, shall
be presumed to be in violation of this subdivision unless the person
alleging the waiver is able to verify that the waiver was made in
accordance with paragraph (3).  
   (5) This subdivision shall only apply to an agreement or contract
that is entered into, renewed, altered, modified, or extended on and
after January 1, 2012.  
   (b) 
    (c   )  This section does not apply to
statements concerning positions in a labor dispute  which
  that  are made during otherwise lawful labor
picketing.