BILL NUMBER: SB 600 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 18, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 4, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pan
(Coauthor: Senator Hall)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 51 of the Civil Code, relating to
discrimination.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 600, as amended, Pan. Discrimination: citizenship: language:
immigration status.
Existing law finds and declares that all protections, rights, and
remedies available under state law, except any reinstatement remedy
prohibited by federal law, are available to all individuals
regardless of immigration status who have applied for employment, or
who are or who have been employed, in this state. Existing law, the
Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons within the
jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal
accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their
sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability,
medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual
orientation.
This bill would extend the protections of the Unruh Civil Rights
Act to persons regardless of citizenship, primary language, or
immigration status. The bill would specify that those
protections do not require the provision of services or documents in
a language other than English, beyond that which is otherwise
required by law.
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 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
51. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Unruh Civil Rights Act.
(b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic
information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary
language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in
all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
(c) 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, disability, medical condition, marital
status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or
immigration status, or to persons regardless of their genetic
information.
(d) 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.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Disability" means any mental or physical disability as
defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code.
(2) (A) "Genetic information" means, with respect to any
individual, information about any of the following:
(i) The individual's genetic tests.
(ii) The genetic tests of family members of the individual.
(iii) The manifestation of a disease or disorder in family members
of the individual.
(B) "Genetic information" includes any request for, or receipt of,
genetic services, or participation in clinical research that
includes genetic services, by an individual or any family member of
the individual.
(C) "Genetic information" does not include information about the
sex or age of any individual.
(3) "Medical condition" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (i) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
(4) "Religion" includes all aspects of religious belief,
observance, and practice.
(5) "Sex" includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth,
or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. "Sex" also
includes, but is not limited to, a person's gender. "Gender" means
sex, and includes a person's gender identity and gender expression.
"Gender expression" means a person's gender-related appearance and
behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's
assigned sex at birth.
(6) "Sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status,
sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration
status" includes a perception that the person has any particular
characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or
that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived
to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the
listed categories.
(7) "Sexual orientation" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (s) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
(f) A violation of the right of any individual under the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L.
(Public Law 101-336) shall also constitute a violation of this
section.
(g) Verification of immigration status and any discrimination
based upon verified immigration status, where required by federal
law, shall not constitute a violation of this section.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the
provision of services or documents in a language other than English,
beyond that which is otherwise required by other provisions of
federal, state, or local law, including Section 1632.
SEC. 2. The amendment of Section 51 of the Civil Code by this act
does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
It is not the intent of the Legislature in amending the Unruh Civil
Rights Act to affect the protected status of any other
classification, whether or not expressed in Section 51 of the Civil
Code.