Bill Text: CA SB600 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Discrimination: citizenship: language: immigration status.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-09-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 282, Statutes of 2015. [SB600 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB600-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SB 600	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pan

                        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: immigration
status.   Discrimination: citizenship: language: immigra
  tion 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 declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to protect California's immigrants from discrimination on
the basis of their immigration status, citizenship, and language.
 
   This bill would extend the protections of the Unruh Civil Rights
Act to persons regardless of citizenship, primary language, or
immigration status. 
   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, or  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,  or  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  (h)   (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,
 or  sexual  orientation"  
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  (r)   (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. 101-336) shall also
constitute a violation of this section. 
   (g) A 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. 
   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.  
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to protect California's immigrants from
discrimination on the basis of their immigration status, citizenship,
and language.