The FEHA is the principal California statute prohibiting employment discrimination covering employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, apprenticeship programs and any person or entity who aids, abets, incites, compels, or coerces the doing of a discriminatory act. It prohibits employment discrimination based on race or color; religion; national origin or ancestry, physical disability; mental disability or medical condition; marital status; sex or sexual orientation; age, with respect to persons over the age of 40; and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The FEHA also prohibits retaliation against for opposing any practice forbidden by the Act or for filing a complaint, testifying, or assisting in proceedings under the FEHA.
Unlimited compensatory and punitive damages.
Plaintiff does not have to win a unanimous jury verdict.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12900-12906

12900.  This part may be known and referred to as the "California
Fair Employment and Housing Act."



12901.  There is in the state government, in the State and Consumer
Services Agency, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The
department is under the direction of an executive officer known as
the Director of Fair Employment and Housing, who is appointed by the
Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and who holds office
at the pleasure of the Governor. The annual salary of the director
is provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of Part
1 of Division 3 of Title 2.



12902.  The provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150)
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 apply to the director and the
director is the head of a department within the meaning of such
chapter.


12903.  There is in the State and Consumer Services Agency the Fair
Employment and Housing Commission. The commission shall consist of
seven members, to be known as commissioners, who shall be appointed
by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
and one of whom shall be designated as chairperson by the Governor.
The term of office of each member of the commission shall be for four
years.



12904.  Any member chosen to fill a vacancy on the commission
occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be appointed for
the unexpired term of the member whom he or she is to succeed. Four
members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the purpose
of conducting the business thereof.



12905.  Each member of the commission shall serve without
compensation but shall receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each
day actually spent in the performance of his or her duties under this
part and shall also be entitled to his or her expenses actually and
necessarily incurred in the performance of his or her duties.




12906.  Any member of the commission may be removed by the Governor
for inefficiency, for neglect of duty, misconduct or malfeasance in
office, after being given a written statement of the charges and an
opportunity to be heard thereon.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12920-12922

12920.  It is hereby declared as the public policy of this state
that it is necessary to protect and safeguard the right and
opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment
without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious
creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual
orientation.
   It is recognized that the practice of denying employment
opportunity and discriminating in the terms of employment for these
reasons foments domestic strife and unrest, deprives the state of the
fullest utilization of its capacities for development and
advancement, and substantially and adversely affects the interest of
employees, employers, and the public in general.
   Further, the practice of discrimination because of race, color,
religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial
status, disability, or sexual orientation in housing accommodations
is declared to be against public policy.
   It is the purpose of this part to provide effective remedies that
will eliminate these discriminatory practices.
   This part shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the
state for the protection of the welfare, health, and peace of the
people of this state.



12920.5.  In order to eliminate discrimination, it is necessary to
provide effective remedies that will both prevent and deter unlawful
employment practices and redress the adverse effects of those
practices on aggrieved persons. To that end, this part shall be
deemed an exercise of the Legislature's authority pursuant to Section
1 of Article XIV of the California Constitution.



12921.  (a) The opportunity to seek, obtain and hold employment
without discrimination because of race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual orientation is
hereby recognized as and declared to be a civil right.
   (b) The opportunity to seek, obtain, and hold housing without
discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial
status, disability, or any other basis prohibited by Section 51 of
the Civil Code is hereby recognized as and declared to be a civil
right.



12922.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, an
employer that is a religious corporation may restrict eligibility for
employment in any position involving the performance of religious
duties to adherents of the religion for which the corporation is
organized.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12925-12928

12925.  As used in this part, unless a different meaning clearly
appears from the context:
   (a) "Commission" means the Fair Employment and Housing Commission
and "commissioner" means a member of the commission.
   (b) "Department" means the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing.
   (c) "Director" means the Director of Fair Employment and Housing.
   (d) "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships,
associations, corporations, limited liability companies, legal
representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, and receivers or
other fiduciaries.



12926.  As used in this part in connection with unlawful practices,
unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
   (a) "Affirmative relief" or "prospective relief" includes the
authority to order reinstatement of an employee, awards of backpay,
reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, hiring, transfers,
reassignments, grants of tenure, promotions, cease and desist orders,
posting of notices, training of personnel, testing, expunging of
records, reporting of records, and any other similar relief that is
intended to correct unlawful practices under this part.
   (b) "Age" refers to the chronological age of any individual who
has reached his or her 40th birthday.
   (c) "Employee" does not include any individual employed by his or
her parents, spouse, or child, or any individual employed under a
special license in a nonprofit sheltered workshop or rehabilitation
facility.
   (d) "Employer" includes any person regularly employing five or
more persons, or any person acting as an agent of an employer,
directly or indirectly, the state or any political or civil
subdivision of the state, and cities, except as follows:
   "Employer" does not include a religious association or corporation
not organized for private profit.
   (e) "Employment agency" includes any person undertaking for
compensation to procure employees or opportunities to work.
   (f) "Essential functions" means the fundamental job duties of the
employment position the individual with a disability holds or
desires. "Essential functions" does not include the marginal
functions of the position.
   (1) A job function may be considered essential for any of several
reasons, including, but not limited to, any one or more of the
following:
   (A) The function may be essential because the reason the position
exists is to perform that function.
   (B) The function may be essential because of the limited number of
employees available among whom the performance of that job function
can be distributed.
   (C) The function may be highly specialized, so that the incumbent
in the position is hired for his or her expertise or ability to
perform the particular function.
   (2) Evidence of whether a particular function is essential
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
   (A) The employer's judgment as to which functions are essential.
   (B) Written job descriptions prepared before advertising or
interviewing applicants for the job.
   (C) The amount of time spent on the job performing the function.
   (D) The consequences of not requiring the incumbent to perform the
function.
   (E) The terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
   (F) The work experiences of past incumbents in the job.
   (G) The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.
   (g) "Labor organization" includes any organization that exists and
is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective
bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms
or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection.
   (h) "Medical condition" means either of the following:
   (1) Any health impairment related to or associated with a
diagnosis of cancer or a record or history of cancer.
   (2) Genetic characteristics. For purposes of this section,
"genetic characteristics" means either of the following:
   (A) Any scientifically or medically identifiable gene or
chromosome, or combination or alteration thereof, that is known to be
a cause of a disease or disorder in a person or his or her
offspring, or that is determined to be associated with a
statistically increased risk of development of a disease or disorder,
and that is presently not associated with any symptoms of any
disease or disorder.
   (B) Inherited characteristics that may derive from the individual
or family member, that are known to be a cause of a disease or
disorder in a person or his or her offspring, or that are determined
to be associated with a statistically increased risk of development
of a disease or disorder, and that are presently not associated with
any symptoms of any disease or disorder.
   (i) "Mental disability" includes, but is not limited to, all of
the following:
   (1) Having any mental or psychological disorder or condition, such
as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental
illness, or specific learning disabilities, that limits a major life
activity. For purposes of this section:
   (A) "Limits" shall be determined without regard to mitigating
measures, such as medications, assistive devices, or reasonable
accommodations, unless the mitigating measure itself limits a major
life activity.
   (B) A mental or psychological disorder or condition limits a major
life activity if it makes the achievement of the major life activity
difficult.
   (C) "Major life activities" shall be broadly construed and shall
include physical, mental, and social activities and working.
   (2) Any other mental or psychological disorder or condition not
described in paragraph (1) that requires special education or related
services.
   (3) Having a record or history of a mental or psychological
disorder or condition described in paragraph (1) or (2), which is
known to the employer or other entity covered by this part.
   (4) Being regarded or treated by the employer or other entity
covered by this part as having, or having had, any mental condition
that makes achievement of a major life activity difficult.
   (5) Being regarded or treated by the employer or other entity
covered by this part as having, or having had, a mental or
psychological disorder or condition that has no present disabling
effect, but that may become a mental disability as described in
paragraph (1) or (2).
   "Mental disability" does not include sexual behavior disorders,
compulsive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, or psychoactive
substance use disorders resulting from the current unlawful use of
controlled substances or other drugs.
   (j) "On the bases enumerated in this part" means or refers to
discrimination on the basis of one or more of the following: race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status,
sex, age, or sexual orientation.
   (k) "Physical disability" includes, but is not limited to, all of
the following:
   (1) Having any physiological disease, disorder, condition,
cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss that does both of the
following:
   (A) Affects one or more of the following body systems:
neurological, immunological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs,
respiratory, including speech organs, cardiovascular, reproductive,
digestive, genitourinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine.
   (B) Limits a major life activity. For purposes of this section:
   (i) "Limits" shall be determined without regard to mitigating
measures such as medications, assistive devices, prosthetics, or
reasonable accommodations, unless the mitigating measure itself
limits a major life activity.
   (ii) A physiological disease, disorder, condition, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss limits a major life activity if it
makes the achievement of the major life activity difficult.
   (iii) "Major life activities" shall be broadly construed and
includes physical, mental, and social activities and working.
   (2) Any other health impairment not described in paragraph (1)
that requires special education or related services.
   (3) Having a record or history of a disease, disorder, condition,
cosmetic disfigurement, anatomical loss, or health impairment
described in paragraph (1) or (2), which is known to the employer or
other entity covered by this part.
   (4) Being regarded or treated by the employer or other entity
covered by this part as having, or having had, any physical condition
that makes achievement of a major life activity difficult.
   (5) Being regarded or treated by the employer or other entity
covered by this part as having, or having had, a disease, disorder,
condition, cosmetic disfigurement, anatomical loss, or health
impairment that has no present disabling effect but may become a
physical disability as described in paragraph (1) or (2).
   (6) "Physical disability" does not include sexual behavior
disorders, compulsive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, or
psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from the current
unlawful use of controlled substances or other drugs.
   (l) Notwithstanding subdivisions (i) and (k), if the definition of
"disability" used in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-336) would result in broader protection of the civil
rights of individuals with a mental disability or physical
disability, as defined in subdivision (i) or (k), or would include
any medical condition not included within those definitions, then
that broader protection or coverage shall be deemed incorporated by
reference into, and shall prevail over conflicting provisions of, the
definitions in subdivisions (i) and (k).
   (m) "Race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry,
physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital
status, sex, age, or sexual orientation" includes a perception that
the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is
associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of
those characteristics.
   (n) "Reasonable accommodation" may include either of the
following:
   (1) Making existing facilities used by employees readily
accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities.
   (2) Job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules,
reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of
equipment or devices, adjustment or modifications of examinations,
training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or
interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with
disabilities.
   (o) "Religious creed," "religion," "religious observance,"
"religious belief," and "creed" include all aspects of religious
belief, observance, and practice.
   (p) "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, as defined in
Section 422.56 of the Penal Code.
   (q) "Sexual orientation" means heterosexuality, homosexuality, and
bisexuality.
   (r) "Supervisor" means any individual having the authority, in the
interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off,
recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other
employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their
grievances, or effectively to recommend that action, if, in
connection with the foregoing, the exercise of that authority is not
of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of
independent judgment.
   (s) "Undue hardship" means an action requiring significant
difficulty or expense, when considered in light of the following
factors:
   (1) The nature and cost of the accommodation needed.
   (2) The overall financial resources of the facilities involved in
the provision of the reasonable accommodations, the number of persons
employed at the facility, and the effect on expenses and resources
or the impact otherwise of these accommodations upon the operation of
the facility.
   (3) The overall financial resources of the covered entity, the
overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect to the
number of employees, and the number, type, and location of its
facilities.
   (4) The type of operations, including the composition, structure,
and functions of the workforce of the entity.
   (5) The geographic separateness, administrative, or fiscal
relationship of the facility or facilities.



12926.1.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) The law of this state in the area of disabilities provides
protections independent from those in the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336). Although the federal
act provides a floor of protection, this state's law has always, even
prior to passage of the federal act, afforded additional
protections.
   (b) The law of this state contains broad definitions of physical
disability, mental disability, and medical condition. It is the
intent of the Legislature that the definitions of physical disability
and mental disability be construed so that applicants and employees
are protected from discrimination due to an actual or perceived
physical or mental impairment that is disabling, potentially
disabling, or perceived as disabling or potentially disabling.
   (c) Physical and mental disabilities include, but are not limited
to, chronic or episodic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis,
epilepsy, seizure disorder, diabetes, clinical depression, bipolar
disorder, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease. In addition, the
Legislature has determined that the definitions of "physical
disability" and "mental disability" under the law of this state
require a "limitation" upon a major life activity, but do not
require, as does the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a
"substantial limitation." This distinction is intended to result in
broader coverage under the law of this state than under that federal
act. Under the law of this state, whether a condition limits a major
life activity shall be determined without respect to any mitigating
measures, unless the mitigating measure itself limits a major life
activity, regardless of federal law under the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990. Further, under the law of this state,
"working" is a major life activity, regardless of whether the actual
or perceived working limitation implicates a particular employment or
a class or broad range of employments.
   (d) Notwithstanding any interpretation of law in Cassista v.
Community Foods (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1050, the Legislature intends (1)
for state law to be independent of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, (2) to require a "limitation" rather than a "substantial
limitation" of a major life activity, and (3) by enacting paragraph
(4) of subdivision (i) and paragraph (4) of subdivision (k) of
Section 12926, to provide protection when an individual is
erroneously or mistakenly believed to have any physical or mental
condition that limits a major life activity.
   (e) The Legislature affirms the importance of the interactive
process between the applicant or employee and the employer in
determining a reasonable accommodation, as this requirement has been
articulated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its
interpretive guidance of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.



12926.2.  As used in this part in connection with unlawful
practices, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the
context:
   (a) "Religious corporation" means any corporation formed under, or
otherwise subject to, Part 4 (commencing with Section 9110) or Part
6 (commencing with Section 10000) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the
Corporations Code, and also includes a corporation that is formed
primarily or exclusively for religious purposes under the laws of any
other state to administer the affairs of an organized religious
group and that is not organized for private profit.
   (b) "Religious duties" means duties of employment connected with
carrying on the religious activities of a religious corporation or
association.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 12926 and except as
otherwise provided in subdivision (d) of this section, "employer"
includes a religious corporation or association with respect to
persons employed by the religious association or corporation to
perform duties, other than religious duties, at a health care
facility operated by the religious association or corporation for the
provision of health care that is not restricted to adherents of the
religion that established the association or corporation.
   (d) "Employer" does not include a religious corporation with
respect to either the employment, including promotion, of an
individual of a particular religion, or the application of the
employer's religious doctrines, tenets, or teachings, in any work
connected with the provision of health care.
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 12926, "employer"
does not include a nonprofit public benefit corporation incorporated
to provide health care on behalf of a religious organization under
Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the
Corporations Code, with respect to employment, including promotion,
of an individual of a particular religion in an executive or
pastoral-care position connected with the provision of health care.
   (f) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a nonprofit
public benefit corporation formed by, or affiliated with, a
particular religion and that operates an educational institution as
its sole or primary activity, may restrict employment, including
promotion, in any or all employment categories to individuals of a
particular religion.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any other provision of law,
employers that are nonprofit public benefit corporations specified in
paragraph (1) shall be subject to the provisions of this part in all
other respects, including, but not limited to, the prohibitions
against discrimination made unlawful employment practices by this
part.


12927.  As used in this part in connection with housing
accommodations, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the
context:
   (a) "Affirmative actions" means any activity for the purpose of
eliminating discrimination in housing accommodations because of race,
color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry,
familial status, or disability.
   (b) "Conciliation council" means a nonprofit organization, or a
city or county human relations commission, which provides education,
factfinding, and mediation or conciliation services in resolution of
complaints of housing discrimination.
   (c) (1) "Discrimination" includes refusal to sell, rent, or lease
housing accommodations; includes refusal to negotiate for the sale,
rental, or lease of housing accommodations; includes representation
that a housing accommodation is not available for inspection, sale,
or rental when that housing accommodation is in fact so available;
includes any other denial or withholding of housing accommodations;
includes provision of inferior terms, conditions, privileges,
facilities, or services in connection with those housing
accommodations; includes harassment in connection with those housing
accommodations; includes the cancellation or termination of a sale or
rental agreement; includes the provision of segregated or separated
housing accommodations; includes the refusal to permit, at the
expense of the disabled person, reasonable modifications of existing
premises occupied or to be occupied by the disabled person, if the
modifications may be necessary to afford the disabled person full
enjoyment of the premises, except that, in the case of a rental, the
landlord may, where it is reasonable to do so condition permission
for a modification on the renter's agreeing to restore the interior
of the premises to the condition that existed before the modification
(other than for reasonable wear and tear), and includes refusal to
make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or
services when these accommodations may be necessary to afford a
disabled person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.
   (2) "Discrimination" does not include either of the following:
   (A) Refusal to rent or lease a portion of an owner-occupied
single-family house to a person as a roomer or boarder living within
the household, provided that no more than one roomer or boarder is to
live within the household, and the owner complies with subdivision
(c) of Section 12955, which prohibits discriminatory notices,
statements, and advertisements.
   (B) Where the sharing of living areas in a single dwelling unit is
involved, the use of words stating or tending to imply that the
housing being advertised is available only to persons of one sex.
   (d) "Housing accommodation" means any building, structure, or
portion thereof that is occupied as, or intended for occupancy as, a
residence by one or more families and any vacant land that is offered
for sale or lease for the construction thereon of any building,
structure, or portion thereof intended to be so occupied.
   (e) "Owner" includes the lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing
agent, real estate broker or salesperson, or any person having any
legal or equitable right of ownership or possession or the right to
rent or lease housing accommodations, and includes the state and any
of its political subdivisions and any agency thereof.
   (f) "Person" includes all individuals and entities that are
described in Section 3602(d) of Title 42 of the United States Code,
and in the definition of "owner" in subdivision (e) of this section,
and all institutional third parties, including the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation.
   (g) "Aggrieved person" includes any person who claims to have been
injured by a discriminatory housing practice or believes that the
person will be injured by a discriminatory housing practice that is
about to occur.
   (h) "Real estate-related transactions" include any of the
following:
   (1) The making or purchasing of loans or providing other financial
assistance that is for the purpose of purchasing, constructing,
improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling, or that is secured
by residential real estate.
   (2) The selling, brokering, or appraising of residential real
property.
   (3) The use of territorial underwriting requirements, for the
purpose of requiring a borrower in a specific geographic area to
obtain earthquake insurance, required by an institutional third party
on a loan secured by residential real property.



12928.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, there is a
rebuttable presumption that "employer," as defined by subdivision
(d) of Section 12926, includes any person or entity identified as the
employer on the employee's Federal Form W-2 (Wage and Tax
Statement).

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12930-12933

12930.  The department shall have the following functions, powers,
and duties:
   (a) To establish and maintain a principal office and any other
offices within the state as are necessary to carry out the purposes
of this part.
   (b) To meet and function at any place within the state.
   (c) To appoint attorneys, investigators, conciliators, and other
employees as it may deem necessary, fix their compensation within the
limitations provided by law, and prescribe their duties.
   (d) To obtain upon request and utilize the services of all
governmental departments and agencies and, in addition, with respect
to housing discrimination, of conciliation councils.
   (e) To adopt, promulgate, amend, and rescind suitable rules and
regulations to carry out the functions and duties of the department
pursuant to this part.
   (f) (1) To receive, investigate, and conciliate complaints
alleging practices made unlawful pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 12940).
   (2) To receive, investigate, and conciliate complaints alleging a
violation of Section 51 , 51.5, 51.7, 54, 54.1, or 54.2 of the Civil
Code. The remedies and procedures of this part shall be independent
of any other remedy or procedure that might apply.
   (g) In connection with any matter under investigation or in
question before the department pursuant to a complaint filed under
Section 12960, 12961, or 12980:
   (1) To issue subpoenas to require the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of books, records, documents, and
physical materials.
   (2) To administer oaths, examine witnesses under oath and take
evidence, and take depositions and affidavits.
   (3) To issue written interrogatories.
   (4) To request the production for inspection and copying of books,
records, documents, and physical materials.
   (5) To petition the superior courts to compel the appearance and
testimony of witnesses, the production of books, records, documents,
and physical materials, and the answering of interrogatories.
   (h) To issue accusations pursuant to Section 12965 or 12981 and to
prosecute those accusations before the commission.
   (i) To issue those publications and those results of
investigations and research as in its judgment will tend to promote
good will and minimize or eliminate discrimination in employment on
the bases enumerated in this part and discrimination in housing
because of race, religious creed, color, sex, marital status,
national origin, ancestry, familial status, disability, or sexual
orientation.
   (j) To investigate, approve, certify, decertify, monitor, and
enforce nondiscrimination programs proposed by a contractor to be
engaged in pursuant to Section 12990.
   (k) To render annually to the Governor and to the Legislature a
written report of its activities and of its recommendations.



12931.  The department may also provide assistance to communities
and persons therein in resolving disputes, disagreements, or
difficulties relating to discriminatory practices based on race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status,
sex, familial status, age, or sexual orientation that impair the
rights of persons in those communities under the Constitution or laws
of the United States or of this state. The services of the
department may be made available in cases of these disputes,
disagreements, or difficulties only when, in its judgment, peaceful
relations among the citizens of the community involved are threatened
thereby. The department's services are to be made available only
upon the request of an appropriate state or local public body, or
upon the request of any person directly affected by any such dispute,
disagreement, or difficulty.
   The assistance of the department pursuant to this section shall be
limited to endeavors at investigation, conference, conciliation, and
persuasion.


12932.  (a) The Legislature recognizes that the avoidance of
discriminatory practices in the employment of disabled persons is
most effectively achieved through the ongoing efforts of state
agencies involved in the vocational rehabilitation and job placement
of the disabled. The department may utilize the efforts and
experience of the Department of Rehabilitation in the development of
job opportunities for the disabled by requesting the Department of
Rehabilitation to foster good will and to conciliate on employment
policies with employers who, in the judgment of the department, have
employment practices or policies that discriminate against disabled
persons. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed to
transfer any of the functions, powers, or duties from the department
to the Department of Rehabilitation.
   (b) The activities of the department in providing conciliation
assistance shall be conducted in confidence and without publicity,
and the department shall hold confidential any information acquired
in the regular performance of its duties upon the understanding that
it would be so held.
   (c) No employee of the department shall engage in the performance
of investigative or prosecuting functions of any department or agency
in any litigation arising out of a dispute in which he or she acted
on behalf of the department. Any employee of the department, who
makes public in any manner whatever any information in violation of
this subdivision, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, if a member of the
state civil service, shall be subject to disciplinary action under
the State Civil Service Act (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18500)
of Division 5 of Title 2).
   (d) When contacted by the department, employers, labor
organizations, or employment agencies shall be informed whether a
particular discussion, or portion thereof, constitutes either of the
following:
   (1) Endeavors at conference, conciliation, and persuasion which
may not be disclosed by the department or received in evidence in any
formal hearing or court action.
   (2) Investigative processes, which are not so protected.



12933.  The department shall maintain liaison with the human
relations commissions of cities, counties, and any city and county,
and shall provide any information not designated by law as
confidential to such commissions on request.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12935

12935.  The commission shall have the following functions, powers,
and duties:
   (a) To adopt, promulgate, amend, and rescind suitable rules,
regulations, and standards (1) to interpret, implement, and apply all
provisions of this part, (2) to regulate the conduct of hearings
held pursuant to Sections 12967 and 12981, and (3) to carry out all
other functions and duties of the commission pursuant to this part.
   (b) To conduct hearings pursuant to Sections 12967 and 12981.
   (c) To conduct mediations at the request of the department at any
time after a complaint is filed pursuant to Section 12960, 12961, or
12980. The department may withdraw a request for mediation at any
time to pursue an investigation.
   (d) To establish and maintain a principal office within the state
and to meet and function at any place within the state.
   (e) To appoint an executive secretary, and any attorneys and other
employees as it may deem necessary, fix their compensation within
the limitations provided by law, and prescribe their duties.
   (f) To hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance,
administer oaths, examine any person under oath and, in connection
therewith, to require the production of any books or papers relating
to any matter under investigation or in question before the
commission.
   (g) To create or provide financial or technical assistance to any
advisory agencies and conciliation councils, local or otherwise, as
in its judgment will aid in effectuating the purposes of this part,
and to empower them to study the problems of discrimination in all or
specific fields of human relationships or in particular instances of
employment discrimination on the bases enumerated in this part or in
specific instances of housing discrimination because of race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, familial status,
disability, marital status, sex, or sexual orientation and to foster,
through community effort or otherwise, good will, cooperation, and
conciliation among the groups and elements of the population of the
state and to make recommendations to the commission for the
development of policies and procedures in general. These advisory
agencies and conciliation councils shall be composed of
representative citizens, serving without pay.
   (h) With respect to findings and orders made pursuant to this
part, to establish a system of published opinions that shall serve as
precedent in interpreting and applying the provisions of this part.
Commission findings, orders, and opinions in an adjudicative
proceeding are subject to Section 11425.60.
   (i) To issue publications and results of inquiries and research
that in its judgment will tend to promote good will and minimize or
eliminate unlawful discrimination. These publications shall include
an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature of its
activities and recommendations.
   (j) Notwithstanding Sections 11370.3 and 11502, to appoint
administrative law judges, as it may deem necessary, to conduct
hearings and mediations. Each administrative law judge shall possess
the qualifications established by the State Personnel Board for the
particular class of position involved. The hearing officers of the
commission shall become administrative law judges on the effective
date of this subdivision.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12940-12951

12940.  It shall be an unlawful employment practice, unless based
upon a bona fide occupational qualification, or, except where based
upon applicable security regulations established by the United States
or the State of California:
   (a) For an employer, because of the race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual orientation of
any person, to refuse to hire or employ the person or to refuse to
select the person for a training program leading to employment, or to
bar or to discharge the person from employment or from a training
program leading to employment, or to discriminate against the person
in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.
   (1) This part does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire
or discharging an employee with a physical or mental disability, or
subject an employer to any legal liability resulting from the refusal
to employ or the discharge of an employee with a physical or mental
disability, where the employee, because of his or her physical or
mental disability, is unable to perform his or her essential duties
even with reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties
in a manner that would not endanger his or her health or safety or
the health or safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.
   (2) This part does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire
or discharging an employee who, because of the employee's medical
condition, is unable to perform his or her essential duties even with
reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties in a
manner that would not endanger the employee's health or safety or the
health or safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.
Nothing in this part shall subject an employer to any legal liability
resulting from the refusal to employ or the discharge of an employee
who, because of the employee's medical condition, is unable to
perform his or her essential duties, or cannot perform those duties
in a manner that would not endanger the employee's health or safety
or the health or safety of others even with reasonable
accommodations.
   (3) Nothing in this part relating to discrimination on account of
marital status shall do either of the following:
   (A) Affect the right of an employer to reasonably regulate, for
reasons of supervision, safety, security, or morale, the working of
spouses in the same department, division, or facility, consistent
with the rules and regulations adopted by the commission.
   (B) Prohibit bona fide health plans from providing additional or
greater benefits to employees with dependents than to those employees
without or with fewer dependents.
   (4) Nothing in this part relating to discrimination on account of
sex shall affect the right of an employer to use veteran status as a
factor in employee selection or to give special consideration to
Vietnam era veterans.
   (5) Nothing in this part prohibits an employer from refusing to
employ an individual because of his or her age if the law compels or
provides for that refusal. Promotions within the existing staff,
hiring or promotion on the basis of experience and training, rehiring
on the basis of seniority and prior service with the employer, or
hiring under an established recruiting program from high schools,
colleges, universities, or trade schools do not, in and of
themselves, constitute unlawful employment practices.
   (b) For a labor organization, because of the race, religious
creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual
orientation of any person, to exclude, expel or restrict from its
membership the person, or to provide only second-class or segregated
membership or to discriminate against any person because of the race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status,
sex, age, or sexual orientation of the person in the election of
officers of the labor organization or in the selection of the labor
organization's staff or to discriminate in any way against any of its
members or against any employer or against any person employed by an
employer.
   (c) For any person to discriminate against any person in the
selection or training of that person in any apprenticeship training
program or any other training program leading to employment because
of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry,
physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital
status, sex, age, or sexual orientation of the person discriminated
against.
   (d) For any employer or employment agency to print or circulate or
cause to be printed or circulated any publication, or to make any
non-job-related inquiry of an employee or applicant, either verbal or
through use of an application form, that expresses, directly or
indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to
race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status,
sex, age, or sexual orientation, or any intent to make any such
limitation, specification or discrimination. Nothing in this part
prohibits an employer or employment agency from inquiring into the
age of an applicant, or from specifying age limitations, where the
law compels or provides for that action.
   (e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), for any
employer or employment agency to require any medical or psychological
examination of an applicant, to make any medical or psychological
inquiry of an applicant, to make any inquiry whether an applicant has
a mental disability or physical disability or medical condition, or
to make any inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical
disability, mental disability, or medical condition.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may inquire into the ability of an applicant to perform
job-related functions and may respond to an applicant's request for
reasonable accommodation.
   (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may require a medical or psychological examination or make a
medical or psychological inquiry of a job applicant after an
employment offer has been made but prior to the commencement of
employment duties, provided that the examination or inquiry is
job-related and consistent with business necessity and that all
entering employees in the same job classification are subject to the
same examination or inquiry.
   (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for any employer or
employment agency to require any medical or psychological examination
of an employee, to make any medical or psychological inquiry of an
employee, to make any inquiry whether an employee has a mental
disability, physical disability, or medical condition, or to make any
inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical disability,
mental disability, or medical condition.
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employer or employment
agency may require any examinations or inquiries that it can show to
be job-related and consistent with business necessity. An employer or
employment agency may conduct voluntary medical examinations,
including voluntary medical histories, which are part of an employee
health program available to employees at that worksite.
   (g) For any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to
harass, discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any
person because the person has made a report pursuant to Section
11161.8 of the Penal Code that prohibits retaliation against hospital
employees who report suspected patient abuse by health facilities or
community care facilities.
   (h) For any employer, labor organization, employment agency, or
person to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any
person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under
this part or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or
assisted in any proceeding under this part.
   (i) For any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the
doing of any of the acts forbidden under this part, or to attempt to
do so.
   (j) (1) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency,
apprenticeship training program or any training program leading to
employment, or any other person, because of race, religious creed,
color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual
orientation, to harass an employee, an applicant, or a person
providing services pursuant to a contract. Harassment of an employee,
an applicant, or a person providing services pursuant to a contract
by an employee, other than an agent or supervisor, shall be unlawful
if the entity, or its agents or supervisors, knows or should have
known of this conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate
corrective action. An employer may also be responsible for the acts
of nonemployees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees,
applicants, or persons providing services pursuant to a contract in
the workplace, where the employer, or its agents or supervisors,
knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate
and appropriate corrective action. In reviewing cases involving the
acts of nonemployees, the extent of the employer's control and any
other legal responsibility which the employer may have with respect
to the conduct of those nonemployees shall be considered. An entity
shall take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring.
Loss of tangible job benefits shall not be necessary in order to
establish harassment.
   (2) The provisions of this subdivision are declaratory of existing
law, except for the new duties imposed on employers with regard to
harassment.
   (3) An employee of an entity subject to this subdivision is
personally liable for any harassment prohibited by this section that
is perpetrated by the employee, regardless of whether the employer or
covered entity knows or should have known of the conduct and fails
to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
   (4) (A) For purposes of this subdivision only, "employer" means
any person regularly employing one or more persons or regularly
receiving the services of one or more persons providing services
pursuant to a contract, or any person acting as an agent of an
employer, directly or indirectly, the state, or any political or
civil subdivision of the state, and cities. The definition of
"employer" in subdivision (d) of Section 12926 applies to all
provisions of this section other than this subdivision.
   (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for purposes of this
subdivision, "employer" does not include a religious association or
corporation not organized for private profit, except as provided in
Section 12926.2.
   (C) For purposes of this subdivision, "harassment" because of sex
includes sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based
on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
   (5) For purposes of this subdivision, "a person providing services
pursuant to a contract" means a person who meets all of the
following criteria:
   (A) The person has the right to control the performance of the
contract for services and discretion as to the manner of performance.
   (B) The person is customarily engaged in an independently
established business.
   (C) The person has control over the time and place the work is
performed, supplies the tools and instruments used in the work, and
performs work that requires a particular skill not ordinarily used in
the course of the employer's work.
   (k) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency,
apprenticeship training program, or any training program leading to
employment, to fail to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent
discrimination and harassment from occurring.
   (l) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to refuse
to hire or employ a person or to refuse to select a person for a
training program leading to employment or to bar or to discharge a
person from employment or from a training program leading to
employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in
terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of a conflict
between the person's religious belief or observance and any
employment requirement, unless the employer or other entity covered
by this part demonstrates that it has explored any available
reasonable alternative means of accommodating the religious belief or
observance, including the possibilities of excusing the person from
those duties that conflict with his or her religious belief or
observance or permitting those duties to be performed at another time
or by another person, but is unable to reasonably accommodate the
religious belief or observance without undue hardship on the conduct
of the business of the employer or other entity covered by this part.
Religious belief or observance, as used in this section, includes,
but is not limited to, observance of a Sabbath or other religious
holy day or days, and reasonable time necessary for travel prior and
subsequent to a religious observance.
   (m) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to fail
to make reasonable accommodation for the known physical or mental
disability of an applicant or employee. Nothing in this subdivision
or in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall be construed to
require an accommodation that is demonstrated by the employer or
other covered entity to produce undue hardship to its operation.
   (n) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to fail
to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process with the
employee or applicant to determine effective reasonable
accommodations, if any, in response to a request for reasonable
accommodation by an employee or applicant with a known physical or
mental disability or known medical condition.
   (o) For an employer or other entity covered by this part, to
subject, directly or indirectly, any employee, applicant, or other
person to a test for the presence of a genetic characteristic.



12940.1.  For the purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
Section 12940, it shall be presumed that an individual with heart
trouble, as referred to in Section 3212 of the Labor Code, applying
for either a firefighter position or participation in an
apprenticeship training program leading to employment in that
position, where the actual duties require physical, active fire
suppression, or a law enforcement position, the principal duties of
which clearly consist of active law enforcement, could not perform
his or her duties in a manner which would not endanger his or her
health or safety or the health or safety of others. This presumption
may be overcome by the applicant or the department proving, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the applicant would be able to
safely perform the job. Law enforcement, for the purposes of this
section, means police officer, deputy sheriff, or sheriff whose
principal duties consist of active law enforcement service.




12940.3.  Prior to January 1, 1996, a study or survey of the costs,
including litigation and reasonable accommodation expenses and other
impacts on California employers of 15 or more employees, resulting
from compliance with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 (Public Law 101-336), shall be undertaken jointly by the
California Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing, Protection and Advocacy, Inc., and the State Department of
Rehabilitation. The study shall also include an analysis of the
benefits of the requirements of Title I of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) to persons with
disabilities. The results of the study shall be submitted to the
Commission on Special Education for their review and recommendations.
The study shall provide a basis for a recommendation to the
Legislature and the Governor concerning whether the hardships imposed
upon businesses outweigh the benefits to persons with disabilities
when the requirements of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) are extended to California employers
of 5 to 14, inclusive, employees by amending the Fair Employment and
Housing Act to include people with mental disabilities as a
protected class. In conducting the study and making a recommendation,
the parties shall consider whether the additional requirements or
consequences of being subject to the additional requirements will
impose a significant hardship on employers of 5 to 14, inclusive,
employees.
   It is the intent to the Legislature that if, at the conclusion of
the study and report to the Legislature, it is determined that
employers of between 5 and 14 employees would not have a significant
hardship in implementing the requirements of Title I of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336), legislation
should be introduced to require that employers with between 5 and 14
employees are covered by the requirements of Title I of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336).
   The Legislature intends that all employers, including employers of
5 to 14, inclusive, employees, voluntarily comply with the
requirements of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (Public Law 101-336) so that persons with mental disabilities
can participate fully in the employment opportunities provided to all
Californians. However, it is the intent of the Legislature that
existing employment discrimination provisions covering employers of 5
to 14, inclusive, employees shall not be altered by amendments to
this part that become effective on January 1, 1993.




12941.  The Legislature hereby declares its rejection of the court
of appeal opinion in Marks v. Loral Corp. (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 30,
and states that the opinion does not affect existing law in any way,
including, but not limited to, the law pertaining to disparate
treatment. The Legislature declares its intent that the use of salary
as the basis for differentiating between employees when terminating
employment may be found to constitute age discrimination if use of
that criterion adversely impacts older workers as a group, and
further declares its intent that the disparate impact theory of proof
may be used in claims of age discrimination. The Legislature further
reaffirms and declares its intent that the courts interpret the
state's statutes prohibiting age discrimination in employment broadly
and vigorously, in a manner comparable to prohibitions against sex
and race discrimination, and with the goal of not only protecting
older workers as individuals, but also of protecting older workers as
a group, since they face unique obstacles in the later phases of
their careers. Nothing in this section shall limit the affirmative
defenses traditionally available in employment discrimination cases
including, but not limited to, those set forth in Section 7286.7 of
Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations.



12942.  (a) Every employer in this state shall permit any employee
who indicates in writing a desire in a reasonable time and can
demonstrate the ability to do so, to continue his or her employment
beyond any retirement date contained in any private pension or
retirement plan.
   This employment shall continue so long as the employee
demonstrates his or her ability to perform the functions of the job
adequately and the employer is satisfied with the quality of work
performed.
   (b) Any employee indicating this desire and continuing the
employment shall give the employer written notice in reasonable time,
of intent to retire or terminate when the retirement or termination
occurs after the employee's retirement date.
   (c) Nothing in this section or Section 12941 shall be construed to
prohibit any of the following:
   (1) To prohibit an institution of higher education, as defined by
Section 1001 of Title 20 of the United States Code, from imposing a
retirement policy for tenured faculty members, provided that the
institution has a policy permitting reemployment of these individuals
on a year-to-year basis.
   (2) To prohibit compulsory retirement of any employee who has
attained 70 years of age and is a physician employed by a
professional medical corporation, the articles or bylaws of which
provide for compulsory retirement.
   (3) To prohibit compulsory retirement of any employee who has
attained 65 years of age and who for the two-year period immediately
before retirement was employed in a bona fide executive or a high
policymaking position, if that employee is entitled to an immediate
nonforfeitable annual retirement benefit from a pension,
profit-sharing, savings, or deferred compensation plan, or any
combination of those plans, of the employer for the employee, which
equals in the aggregate at least twenty-seven thousand dollars
($27,000).



12943.  It shall be an unlawful employment practice unless based
upon a bona fide occupational qualification:
   (a) For the governing board of any school district, because of the
pregnancy of any female person, to refuse to hire or employ her, or
to refuse to select her for a training program leading to employment,
or to bar or to discharge her from employment or from a training
program leading to employment, or to discriminate against her in
compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.
   (b) For the governing board of any school district to terminate
any employee who is temporarily disabled, pursuant to or on the basis
of an employment policy under which insufficient or no leave is
available, if the policy has a disparate impact on employees of one
sex and is not justified by necessity of the public schools.



12944.  (a) It shall be unlawful for a licensing board to require
any examination or establish any other qualification for licensing
that has an adverse impact on any class by virtue of its race, creed,
color, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, medical condition,
physical disability, mental disability, or sexual orientation, unless
the practice can be demonstrated to be job related.
   Where the commission, after hearing, determines that an
examination is unlawful under this subdivision, the licensing board
may continue to use and rely on the examination until such time as
judicial review by the superior court of the determination is
exhausted.
   If an examination or other qualification for licensing is
determined to be unlawful under this section, that determination
shall not void, limit, repeal, or otherwise affect any right,
privilege, status, or responsibility previously conferred upon any
person by the examination or by a license issued in reliance on the
examination or qualification.
   (b) It shall be unlawful for a licensing board to fail or refuse
to make reasonable accommodation to an individual's mental or
physical disability or medical condition.
   (c) It shall be unlawful for any licensing board, unless
specifically acting in accordance with federal equal employment
opportunity guidelines or regulations approved by the commission, to
print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any
publication, or to make any non-job-related inquiry, either verbal or
through use of an application form, which expresses, directly or
indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to
race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, sex, age, or sexual
orientation or any intent to make any such limitation,
specification, or discrimination. Nothing in this subdivision shall
prohibit any licensing board from making, in connection with
prospective licensure or certification, an inquiry as to, or a
request for information regarding, the physical fitness of applicants
if that inquiry or request for information is directly related and
pertinent to the license or the licensed position the applicant is
applying for. Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit any
licensing board, in connection with prospective examinations,
licensure, or certification, from inviting individuals with physical
or mental disabilities to request reasonable accommodations or from
making inquiries related to reasonable accommodations.
   (d) It is unlawful for a licensing board to discriminate against
any person because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or
assisted in any proceeding under this part.
   (e) It is unlawful for any licensing board to fail to keep records
of applications for licensing or certification for a period of two
years following the date of receipt of the applications.
   (f) As used in this section, "licensing board" means any state
board, agency, or authority in the State and Consumer Services Agency
that has the authority to grant licenses or certificates which are
prerequisites to employment eligibility or professional status.



12945.  In addition to the provisions that govern pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions in Sections 12926 and
12940, it shall be an unlawful employment practice, unless based upon
a bona fide occupational qualification:
   (a) For an employer to refuse to allow a female employee disabled
by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions to take a
leave for a reasonable period of time not to exceed four months and
thereafter return to work, as set forth in the commission's
regulations. The employee shall be entitled to utilize any accrued
vacation leave during this period of time. Reasonable period of time
means that period during which the female employee is disabled on
account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
   An employer may require an employee who plans to take a leave
pursuant to this subdivision to give the employer reasonable notice
of the date the leave shall commence and the estimated duration of
the leave.
   (b) (1) For an employer to refuse to provide reasonable
accommodation for an employee for conditions related to pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions, if she so requests, with
the advice of her health care provider.
   (2) For an employer who has a policy, practice, or collective
bargaining agreement requiring or authorizing the transfer of
temporarily disabled employees to less strenuous or hazardous
positions for the duration of the disability to refuse to transfer a
pregnant female employee who so requests.
   (3) For an employer to refuse to temporarily transfer a pregnant
female employee to a less strenuous or hazardous position for the
duration of her pregnancy if she so requests, with the advice of her
physician, where that transfer can be reasonably accommodated.
However, no employer shall be required by this section to create
additional employment that the employer would not otherwise have
created, nor shall the employer be required to discharge any
employee, transfer any employee with more seniority, or promote any
employee who is not qualified to perform the job.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to affect any other
provision of law relating to sex discrimination or pregnancy, or in
any way to diminish the coverage of pregnancy, childbirth, or medical
conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth under any other
provisions of this part, including subdivision (a) of Section 12940.




12945.1.  Sections 12945.2 and 19702.3 shall be known, and may be
cited, as the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act.



12945.2.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), it shall be an
unlawful employment practice for any employer, as defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), to refuse to grant a request by any
employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, and
who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the
previous 12-month period, to take up to a total of 12 workweeks in
any 12-month period for family care and medical leave. Family care
and medical leave requested pursuant to this subdivision shall not be
deemed to have been granted unless the employer provides the
employee, upon granting the leave request, a guarantee of employment
in the same or a comparable position upon the termination of the
leave. The commission shall adopt a regulation specifying the
elements of a reasonable request.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), it shall not be an unlawful
employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request for
family care and medical leave by an employee if the employer employs
less than 50 employees within 75 miles of the worksite where that
employee is employed.
   (c) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a
stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco
parentis who is either of the following:
   (A) Under 18 years of age.
   (B) An adult dependent child.
   (2) "Employer" means either of the following:
   (A) Any person who directly employs 50 or more persons to perform
services for a wage or salary.
   (B) The state, and any political or civil subdivision of the state
and cities.
   (3) "Family care and medical leave" means any of the following:
   (A) Leave for reason of the birth of a child of the employee, the
placement of a child with an employee in connection with the adoption
or foster care of the child by the employee, or the serious health
condition of a child of the employee.
   (B) Leave to care for a parent or a spouse who has a serious
health condition.
   (C) Leave because of an employee's own serious health condition
that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the
position of that employee, except for leave taken for disability on
account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
   (4) "Employment in the same or a comparable position" means
employment in a position that has the same or similar duties and pay
that can be performed at the same or similar geographic location as
the position held prior to the leave.
   (5) "FMLA" means the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(P.L. 103-3).
   (6) "Health care provider" means any of the following:
   (A) An individual holding either a physician's and surgeon's
certificate issued pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section
2080) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions
Code, an osteopathic physician's and surgeon's certificate issued
pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 2099.5) of Chapter 5
of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, or an individual
duly licensed as a physician, surgeon, or osteopathic physician or
surgeon in another state or jurisdiction, who directly treats or
supervises the treatment of the serious health condition.
   (B) Any other person determined by the United States Secretary of
Labor to be capable of providing health care services under the FMLA.
   (7) "Parent" means a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a
stepparent, a legal guardian, or other person who stood in loco
parentis to the employee when the employee was a child.
   (8) "Serious health condition" means an illness, injury,
impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either of
the following:
   (A) Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential health
care facility.
   (B) Continuing treatment or continuing supervision by a health
care provider.
   (d) An employer shall not be required to pay an employee for any
leave taken pursuant to subdivision (a), except as required by
subdivision (e).
   (e) An employee taking a leave permitted by subdivision (a) may
elect, or an employer may require the employee, to substitute, for
leave allowed under subdivision (a), any of the employee's accrued
vacation leave or other accrued time off during this period or any
other paid or unpaid time off negotiated with the employer. If an
employee takes a leave because of the employee's own serious health
condition, the employee may also elect, or the employer may also
require the employee, to substitute accrued sick leave during the
period of the leave. However, an employee shall not use sick leave
during a period of leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or
foster care of a child, or to care for a child, parent, or spouse
with a serious health condition, unless mutually agreed to by the
employer and the employee.
   (f) (1) During any period that an eligible employee takes leave
pursuant to subdivision (a) or takes leave that qualifies as leave
taken under the FMLA, the employer shall maintain and pay for
coverage under a "group health plan," as defined in Section 5000(b)
(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the duration of the
leave, not to exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month period, commencing on
the date leave taken under the FMLA commences, at the level and
under the conditions coverage would have been provided if the
employee had continued in employment continuously for the duration of
the leave. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall preclude an
employer from maintaining and paying for coverage under a "group
health plan" beyond 12 workweeks. An employer may recover the premium
that the employer paid as required by this subdivision for
maintaining coverage for the employee under the group health plan if
both of the following conditions occur:
   (A) The employee fails to return from leave after the period of
leave to which the employee is entitled has expired.
   (B) The employee's failure to return from leave is for a reason
other than the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health
condition that entitles the employee to leave under subdivision (a)
or other circumstances beyond the control of the employee.
   (2) Any employee taking leave pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
continue to be entitled to participate in employee health plans for
any period during which coverage is not provided by the employer
under paragraph (1), employee benefit plans, including life,
short-term, or long-term disability or accident insurance, pension
and retirement plans, and supplemental unemployment benefit plans to
the same extent and under the same conditions as apply to an unpaid
leave taken for any purpose other than those described in subdivision
(a). In the absence of these conditions an employee shall continue
to be entitled to participate in these plans and, in the case of
health and welfare employee benefit plans, including life,
short-term, or long-term disability or accident insurance, or other
similar plans, the employer may, at his or her discretion, require
the employee to pay premiums, at the group rate, during the period of
leave not covered by any accrued vacation leave, or other accrued
time off, or any other paid or unpaid time off negotiated with the
employer, as a condition of continued coverage during the leave
period. However, the nonpayment of premiums by an employee shall not
constitute a break in service, for purposes of longevity, seniority
under any collective bargaining agreement, or any employee benefit
plan.
   For purposes of pension and retirement plans, an employer shall
not be required to make plan payments for an employee during the
leave period, and the leave period shall not be required to be
counted for purposes of time accrued under the plan. However, an
employee covered by a pension plan may continue to make contributions
in accordance with the terms of the plan during the period of the
leave.
   (g) During a family care and medical leave period, the employee
shall retain employee status with the employer, and the leave shall
not constitute a break in service, for purposes of longevity,
seniority under any collective bargaining agreement, or any employee
benefit plan. An employee returning from leave shall return with no
less seniority than the employee had when the leave commenced, for
purposes of layoff, recall, promotion, job assignment, and
seniority-related benefits such as vacation.
   (h) If the employee's need for a leave pursuant to this section is
foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer with reasonable
advance notice of the need for the leave.
   (i) If the employee's need for leave pursuant to this section is
foreseeable due to a planned medical treatment or supervision, the
employee shall make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment or
supervision to avoid disruption to the operations of the employer,
subject to the approval of the health care provider of the individual
requiring the treatment or supervision.
   (j) (1) An employer may require that an employee's request for
leave to care for a child, a spouse, or a parent who has a serious
health condition be supported by a certification issued by the health
care provider of the individual requiring care. That certification
shall be sufficient if it includes all of the following:
   (A) The date on which the serious health condition commenced.
   (B) The probable duration of the condition.
   (C) An estimate of the amount of time that the health care
provider believes the employee needs to care for the individual
requiring the care.
   (D) A statement that the serious health condition warrants the
participation of a family member to provide care during a period of
the treatment or supervision of the individual requiring care.
   (2) Upon expiration of the time estimated by the health care
provider in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1), the employer may
require the employee to obtain recertification, in accordance with
the procedure provided in paragraph (1), if additional leave is
required.
   (k) (1) An employer may require that an employee's request for
leave because of the employee's own serious health condition be
supported by a certification issued by his or her health care
provider. That certification shall be sufficient if it includes all
of the following:
   (A) The date on which the serious health condition commenced.
   (B) The probable duration of the condition.
   (C) A statement that, due to the serious health condition, the
employee is unable to perform the function of his or her position.
   (2) The employer may require that the employee obtain subsequent
recertification regarding the employee's serious health condition on
a reasonable basis, in accordance with the procedure provided in
paragraph (1), if additional leave is required.
   (3) (A) In any case in which the employer has reason to doubt the
validity of the certification provided pursuant to this section, the
employer may require, at the employer's expense, that the employee
obtain the opinion of a second health care provider, designated or
approved by the employer, concerning any information certified under
paragraph (1).
   (B) The health care provider designated or approved under
subparagraph (A) shall not be employed on a regular basis by the
employer.
   (C) In any case in which the second opinion described in
subparagraph (A) differs from the opinion in the original
certification, the employer may require, at the employer's expense,
that the employee obtain the opinion of a third health care provider,
designated or approved jointly by the employer and the employee,
concerning the information certified under paragraph (1).
   (D) The opinion of the third health care provider concerning the
information certified under paragraph (1) shall be considered to be
final and shall be binding on the employer and the employee.
   (4) As a condition of an employee's return from leave taken
because of the employee's own serious health condition, the employer
may have a uniformly applied practice or policy that requires the
employee to obtain certification from his or her health care provider
that the employee is able to resume work. Nothing in this paragraph
shall supersede a valid collective bargaining agreement that governs
the return to work of that employee.
   (l) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to
refuse to hire, or to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, or
discriminate against, any individual because of any of the following:
   (1) An individual's exercise of the right to family care and
medical leave provided by subdivision (a).
   (2) An individual's giving information or testimony as to his or
her own family care and medical leave, or another person's family
care and medical leave, in any inquiry or proceeding related to
rights guaranteed under this section.
   (m) This section shall not be construed to require any changes in
existing collective bargaining agreements during the life of the
contract, or until January 1, 1993, whichever occurs first.
   (n) The amendments made to this section by the act adding this
subdivision shall not be construed to require any changes in existing
collective bargaining agreements during the life of the contract, or
until February 5, 1994, whichever occurs first.
   (o) The provisions of this section shall be construed as separate
and distinct from those of Section 12945.
   (p) Leave provided for pursuant to this section may be taken in
one or more periods. The 12-month period during which 12 workweeks of
leave may be taken under this section shall run concurrently with
the 12-month period under the FMLA, and shall commence the date leave
taken under the FMLA commences.
   (q) In any case in which both parents entitled to leave under
subdivision (a) are employed by the same employer, the employer shall
not be required to grant leave in connection with the birth,
adoption, or foster care of a child that would allow the parents
family care and medical leave totaling more than the amount specified
in subdivision (a).
   (r) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an employer may refuse to
reinstate an employee returning from leave to the same or a
comparable position if all of the following apply:
   (A) The employee is a salaried employee who is among the highest
paid 10 percent of the employer's employees who are employed within
75 miles of the worksite at which that employee is employed.
   (B) The refusal is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous
economic injury to the operations of the employer.
   (C) The employer notifies the employee of the intent to refuse
reinstatement at the time the employer determines the refusal is
necessary under subparagraph (B).
   (2) In any case in which the leave has already commenced, the
employer shall give the employee a reasonable opportunity to return
to work following the notice prescribed by subparagraph (C).
   (s) Leave taken by an employee pursuant to this section shall run
concurrently with leave taken pursuant to the FMLA, except for any
leave taken under the FMLA for disability on account of pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions. The aggregate amount of
leave taken under this section or the FMLA, or both, except for leave
taken for disability on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related
medical conditions, shall not exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month
period. An employee is entitled to take, in addition to the leave
provided for under this section and the FMLA, the leave provided for
in Section 12945, if the employee is otherwise qualified for that
leave.



12945.5.  It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an
employer to require any employee to be sterilized as a condition of
employment.


12946.  It shall be an unlawful practice for employers, labor
organizations, and employment agencies subject to the provisions of
this part to fail to maintain and preserve any and all applications,
personnel, membership, or employment referral records and files for a
minimum period of two years after the records and files are
initially created or received, or for employers to fail to retain
personnel files of applicants or terminated employees for a minimum
period of two years after the date of the employment action taken.
For the purposes of this section, the State Personnel Board is exempt
from the two-year retention requirement and shall instead, maintain
the records and files for a period of one year. Upon notice that a
verified complaint against it has been filed under this part, any
such employer, labor organization, or employment agency shall
maintain and preserve any and all records and files until the
complaint is fully and finally disposed of and all appeals or related
proceedings terminated. The commission shall adopt suitable rules,
regulations, and standards to carry out the purposes of this section.
Where necessary, the department, pursuant to its powers under
Section 12974, may seek temporary or preliminary judicial relief to
enforce this section.



12947.  It shall not be an unlawful practice under this part for an
employer or labor organization to provide or make financial provision
for child care services of a custodial or other nature for its
employees or members who are responsible for minor children.




12947.5.  (a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an
employer to refuse to permit an employee to wear pants on account of
the sex of the employee.
   (b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from
requiring employees in a particular occupation to wear a uniform.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from
requiring an employee to wear a costume while that employee is
portraying a specific character or dramatic role.
   (d) The commission may exempt an employer from the requirements of
this section for good cause shown and shall adopt standards and
procedures for granting exemptions.


12948.  It is an unlawful practice under this part for a person to
deny or to aid, incite, or conspire in the denial of the rights
created by Section 51, 51.5, 51.7, 54, 54.1, or 54.2 of the Civil
Code.


12949.  Nothing in this part relating to gender-based discrimination
affects the ability of an employer to require an employee to adhere
to reasonable workplace appearance, grooming, and dress standards not
precluded by other provisions of state or federal law, provided that
an employer shall allow an employee to appear or dress consistently
with the employee's gender identity.



12950.  In addition to employer responsibilities set forth in
subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940 and in rules adopted by the
department and the commission, every employer shall act to ensure a
workplace free of sexual harassment by implementing the following
minimum requirements:
   (a) The department shall amend its current poster on
discrimination in employment to include information relating to the
illegality of sexual harassment. This amended poster shall be
distributed to employers when the supply of the current poster is
exhausted. One copy of the amended poster shall be provided by the
department to an employer upon request. The amended poster shall be
available at each office of the department, and shall be mailed if
the request includes a self-addressed envelope with postage affixed.
Multiple copies of the amended poster shall be made available online
by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Each employer shall
post the amended poster in a prominent and accessible location in
the workplace.
   (b) Each employer shall obtain from the department its information
sheet on sexual harassment, which the department shall make
available to employers for reproduction and distribution to
employees. One copy of the information sheet shall be provided by the
department to an employer upon request. The information sheets shall
be available at each office of the department, and shall be mailed
if the request includes a self-addressed envelope with postage
affixed. Multiple copies of the information sheet shall be made
available online by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Each employer shall distribute this information sheet to its
employees, unless the employer provides equivalent information to its
employees that contains, at a minimum, components on the following:
   (1) The illegality of sexual harassment.
   (2) The definition of sexual harassment under applicable state and
federal law.
   (3) A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples.
   (4) The internal complaint process of the employer available to
the employee.
   (5) The legal remedies and complaint process available through the
department and the commission.
   (6) Directions on how to contact the department and the
commission.
   (7) The protection against retaliation provided by Section 7287.8
of Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations for opposing the
practices prohibited by this article or for filing a complaint with,
or otherwise participating in an investigation, proceeding, or
hearing conducted by, the department or the commission.
   (c) The information sheet or information required to be
distributed to employees pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
delivered in a manner that ensures distribution to each employee,
such as including the information sheet or information with an
employee's pay.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940, a
claim that the information sheet or information required to be
distributed pursuant to this section did not reach a particular
individual or individuals shall not in and of itself result in the
liability of any employer to any present or former employee or
applicant in any action alleging sexual harassment. Conversely, an
employer's compliance with this section does not insulate the
employer from liability for sexual harassment of any current or
former employee or applicant.
   (e) If an employer violates the requirements of this section, the
commission shall issue an order requiring the employer to comply with
these requirements.



12950.1.  (a) By January 1, 2006, an employer having 50 or more
employees shall provide at least two hours of classroom or other
effective interactive training and education regarding sexual
harassment to all supervisory employees in California who are
employed as of July 1, 2005, and to all new supervisory employees
within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position. Any
employer who has provided this training and education to a
supervisory employee after January 1, 2003, is not required to
provide training and education by the January 1, 2006, deadline.
After January 1, 2006, each employer covered by this section shall
provide sexual harassment training and education to each supervisory
employee in California once every two years. The training and
education required by this section shall include information and
practical guidance regarding the federal and state statutory
provisions concerning the prohibition against and the prevention and
correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims
of sexual harassment in employment. The training and education shall
also include practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in
the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and
shall be presented by trainers or educators with knowledge and
expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and
retaliation.
   (b) The state shall incorporate the training required by
subdivision (a) into the 80 hours of training provided to all new
supervisory employees pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 19995.4,
using existing resources.
   (c) For purposes of this section only, "employer" means any person
regularly employing 50 or more persons or regularly receiving the
services of 50 or more persons providing services pursuant to a
contract, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly
or indirectly, the state, or any political or civil subdivision of
the state, and cities.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940, a
claim that the training and education required by this section did
not reach a particular individual or individuals shall not in and of
itself result in the liability of any employer to any present or
former employee or applicant in any action alleging sexual
harassment. Conversely, an employer's compliance with this section
does not insulate the employer from liability for sexual harassment
of any current or former employee or applicant.
   (e) If an employer violates this section, the commission shall
issue an order requiring the employer to comply with these
requirements.
   (f) The training and education required by this section is
intended to establish a minimum threshold and should not discourage
or relieve any employer from providing for longer, more frequent, or
more elaborate training and education regarding workplace harassment
or other forms of unlawful discrimination in order to meet its
obligations to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent and
correct harassment and discrimination.



12951.  (a) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer,
as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 12926, to adopt or enforce a
policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in any
workplace, unless both of the following conditions exist:
   (1) The language restriction is justified by a business necessity.
   (2) The employer has notified its employees of the circumstances
and the time when the language restriction is required to be observed
and of the consequences for violating the language restriction.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, "business necessity" means
an overriding legitimate business purpose such that the language
restriction is necessary to the safe and efficient operation of the
business, that the language restriction effectively fulfills the
business purpose it is supposed to serve, and there is no alternative
practice to the language restriction that would accomplish the
business purpose equally well with a lesser discriminatory impact.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12955-12956.2

12955.  It shall be unlawful:
   (a) For the owner of any housing accommodation to discriminate
against or harass any person because of the race, color, religion,
sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry,
familial status, source of income, or disability of that person.
   (b) For the owner of any housing accommodation to make or to cause
to be made any written or oral inquiry concerning the race, color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin,
ancestry, familial status, or disability of any person seeking to
purchase, rent or lease any housing accommodation.
   (c) For any person to make, print, or publish, or cause to be
made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement,
with respect to the sale or rental of a housing accommodation that
indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on
race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status,
national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, or
disability or an intention to make that preference, limitation, or
discrimination.
   (d) For any person subject to the provisions of Section 51 of the
Civil Code, as that section applies to housing accommodations, to
discriminate against any person on the basis of sex, sexual
orientation, color, race, religion, ancestry, national origin,
familial status, marital status, disability, source of income, or on
any other basis prohibited by that section.
   (e) For any person, bank, mortgage company or other financial
institution that provides financial assistance for the purchase,
organization, or construction of any housing accommodation to
discriminate against any person or group of persons because of the
race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status,
national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, or
disability in the terms, conditions, or privileges relating to the
obtaining or use of that financial assistance.
   (f) For any owner of housing accommodations to harass, evict, or
otherwise discriminate against any person in the sale or rental of
housing accommodations when the owner's dominant purpose is
retaliation against a person who has opposed practices unlawful under
this section, informed law enforcement agencies of practices
believed unlawful under this section, has testified or assisted in
any proceeding under this part, or has aided or encouraged a person
to exercise or enjoy the rights secured by this part. Nothing herein
is intended to cause or permit the delay of an unlawful detainer
action.
   (g) For any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the
doing of any of the acts or practices declared unlawful in this
section, or to attempt to do so.
   (h) For any person, for profit, to induce any person to sell or
rent any dwelling by representations regarding the entry or
prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of a
particular race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital
status, ancestry, disability, source of income, familial status, or
national origin.
   (i) For any person or other organization or entity whose business
involves real estate-related transactions to discriminate against any
person in making available a transaction, or in the terms and
conditions of a transaction, because of race, color, religion, sex,
sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, source
of income, familial status, or disability.
   (j) To deny a person access to, or membership or participation in,
a multiple listing service, real estate brokerage organization, or
other service because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status, ancestry, disability, familial status,
source of income, or national origin.
   (k) To otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling based on
discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, familial status, source of income, disability, or
national origin.
   (l) To discriminate through public or private land use practices,
decisions, and authorizations because of race, color, religion, sex,
sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability,
national origin, source of income, or ancestry. Discrimination
includes, but is not limited to, restrictive covenants, zoning laws,
denials of use permits, and other actions authorized under the
Planning and Zoning Law (Title 7 (commencing with Section 65000)),
that make housing opportunities unavailable.
   Discrimination under this subdivision also includes the existence
of a restrictive covenant, regardless of whether accompanied by a
statement that the restrictive covenant is repealed or void. This
paragraph shall become operative on January 1, 2001.
   (m) As used in this section, "race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial
status, source of income, or disability" includes a perception that
the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is
associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of
those characteristics.
   (n) To use a financial or income standard in the rental of housing
that fails to account for the aggregate income of persons residing
together or proposing to reside together on the same basis as the
aggregate income of married persons residing together or proposing to
reside together.
   (o) In instances where there is a government rent subsidy, to use
a financial or income standard in assessing eligibility for the
rental of housing that is not based on the portion of the rent to be
paid by the tenant.
   (p) (1) For the purposes of this section, "source of income" means
lawful, verifiable income paid directly to a tenant or paid to a
representative of a tenant. For the purposes of this section, a
landlord is not considered a representative of a tenant.
   (2) For the purposes of this section, it shall not constitute
discrimination based on source of income to make a written or oral
inquiry concerning the level or source of income.



12955.1.  (a) For purposes of Section 12955, "discrimination"
includes, but is not limited to, a failure to design and construct a
covered multifamily dwelling in a manner that allows access to, and
use by, disabled persons by providing, at a minimum, the following
features:
   (1) All covered multifamily dwellings shall have at least one
building entrance on an accessible route, unless it is impracticable
to do so because of the terrain or unusual characteristics of the
site. The burden of establishing impracticability because of terrain
or unusual site characteristics is on the person or persons who
designed or constructed the housing facility.
   (2) All covered multifamily dwellings with a building entrance on
an accessible route shall be designed and constructed in a manner
that complies with all of the following:
   (A) The public and common areas are readily accessible to and
usable by persons with disabilities.
   (B) All the doors designed to allow passage into and within all
premises are sufficiently wide to allow passage by persons in
wheelchairs.
   (C) All premises within covered multifamily dwelling units contain
the following features of adaptable design:
   (i) An accessible route into and through the covered dwelling
unit.
   (ii) Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other
environmental controls in accessible locations.
   (iii) Reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later installation
of grab bars around the toilet, tub, shower stall, and shower seat,
where those facilities are provided.
   (iv) Useable kitchens and bathrooms so that an individual in a
wheelchair can maneuver about the space.
   (b) (1) For purposes of Section 12955, "discrimination" includes,
but is not limited to, a failure to design and construct 10 percent
of the multistory dwelling units in buildings without an elevator
that consist of at least four condominium dwelling units or at least
three rental apartment dwelling units in a manner that incorporates
an accessible route to the primary entry level entrance and that
meets the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) with
respect to the ground floor, at least one bathroom on the primary
entry level and the public and common areas. Any fraction thereof
shall be rounded up to the next whole number. For purposes of this
subdivision, "elevator" does not include an elevator that serves only
the first ground floor or any nonresidential area. In multistory
dwelling units in these buildings without elevators, the "primary
entry level entrance" means the principal entrance through which most
people enter the dwelling unit, as designated by the California
Building Standards Code or, if not designated by California Building
Standards Code, by the building official. To determine the total
number of multistory dwelling units subject to this subdivision, all
multistory dwelling units in the buildings subject to this
subdivision on a site shall be considered collectively. This
subdivision shall not be construed to require an elevator within an
individual multistory dwelling unit or within a building subject to
this subdivision. This subdivision shall apply only to multistory
dwelling units in a building subject to this subdivision for which an
application for a construction permit is submitted on or after July
1, 2005.
   (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), the Division of the State
Architect and the Department of Housing and Community Development may
adopt regulations to clarify, interpret, or implement this
subdivision, if either of them deem it necessary and appropriate.
   (c) Notwithstanding Section 12935, regulations adopting building
standards necessary to implement, interpret, or make specific the
provisions of this section shall be developed by the Division of the
State Architect for public housing and by the Department of Housing
and Community Development for all other residential occupancies, and
shall be adopted pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
18935) of Part 2.5 of the Health and Safety Code. Prior to the
effective date of regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision,
existing federal accessibility standards that provide, to persons
with disabilities, greater protections than existing state
accessibility regulations shall apply. After regulations pursuant to
this subdivision become effective, particular state regulations shall
apply if they provide, to persons with disabilities, the same
protections as, or greater protections than, the federal standards.
If particular federal regulations provide greater protections than
state regulations, then those federal standards shall apply. If the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development determines
that any portion of the state regulations are not equivalent to the
federal standards, the federal standards shall, as to those portions,
apply to the design and construction of covered multifamily
dwellings until the state regulations are brought into compliance
with the federal standards. The appropriate state agency shall
provide notice pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter
5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2)
of that determination.
   (d) In investigating discrimination complaints, the department
shall apply the building standards contained in the California
Building Standards Code to determine whether a covered multifamily
dwelling is designed and constructed for access to and use by
disabled persons in accordance with this section.
   (e) The building standard requirements for persons with
disabilities imposed by this section shall meet or exceed the
requirements under the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
(P.L. 100-430) and its implementing regulations (24 C.F.R. 100.1 et
seq.) and the existing state law building standards contained in the
California Building Standards Code.



12955.1.1.  For purposes of Section 12955.1, the following
definitions shall apply:
   (a) "Covered multifamily dwellings" means both of the following:
   (1) Buildings that consist of at least four condominium dwelling
units or at least three rental apartment dwelling units if the
buildings have at least one elevator. For purposes of this
definition, dwelling units within a single structure separated by
firewalls do not constitute separate buildings.
   (2) The ground floor dwelling units in buildings that consist of
at least four condominium dwelling units or at least three rental
apartment dwelling units if the buildings do not have an elevator.
For purposes of this definition, dwelling units within a single
structure separated by firewalls do not constitute separate
buildings.
   (b) "Multistory dwelling unit" means a condominium dwelling unit
or rental apartment with finished living space on one floor and the
floor immediately above or below it or, if applicable, the floors
immediately above and below it.


12955.2.  For purposes of this part, "familial status" means one or
more individuals under 18 years of age who reside with a parent,
another person with care and legal custody of that individual, a
person who has been given care and custody of that individual by a
state or local governmental agency that is responsible for the
welfare of children, or the designee of that parent or other person
with legal custody of any individual under 18 years of age by written
consent of the parent or designated custodian. The protections
afforded by this part against discrimination on the basis of familial
status also apply to any individual who is pregnant , who is in the
process of securing legal custody of any individual under 18 years of
age, or who is in the process of being given care and custody of any
individual under 18 years of age by a state or local governmental
agency responsible for the welfare of children.



12955.3.  For purposes of this part, "disability" includes, but is
not limited to, any physical or mental disability as defined in
Section 12926.


12955.4.  Nothing in this part shall prohibit a religious
organization, association or society, or any nonprofit institution or
organization operated, supervised, or controlled by or in
conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society,
from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwellings that it
owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of
the same religion or from giving preference to those persons, unless
membership in that religion is restricted on account of race, color,
or national origin.


12955.5.  Nothing in this part shall preclude the government from
establishing programs to collect information relating to
discriminatory housing practices.


12955.6.  Nothing in this part shall be construed to afford to the
classes protected under this part, fewer rights or remedies than the
federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-430) and its
implementing regulations (24 C.F.R. 100.1 et seq.), or state law
relating to fair employment and housing as it existed prior to the
effective date of this section. Any state law that purports to
require or permit any action that would be an unlawful practice under
this part shall to that extent be invalid. This part may be
construed to afford greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved
person than those afforded by federal law and other state laws.




12955.7.  It shall be unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or
interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on
account of that person having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of
that person having aided or encouraged any other person in the
exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by Section
12955 or 12955.1.



12955.8.  For purposes of this article, in connection with unlawful
practices:
   (a) Proof of an intentional violation of this article includes,
but is not limited to, an act or failure to act that is otherwise
covered by this part, that demonstrates an intent to discriminate in
any manner in violation of this part. A person intends to
discriminate if race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation,
familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, or
ancestry is a motivating factor in committing a discriminatory
housing practice even though other factors may have also motivated
the practice. An intent to discriminate may be established by direct
or circumstantial evidence.
   (b) Proof of a violation causing a discriminatory effect is shown
if an act or failure to act that is otherwise covered by this part,
and that has the effect, regardless of intent, of unlawfully
discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national
origin, or ancestry. A business establishment whose action or
inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect shall not be
considered to have committed an unlawful housing practice in
violation of this part if the business establishment can establish
that the action or inaction is necessary to the operation of the
business and effectively carries out the significant business need it
is alleged to serve. In cases that do not involve a business
establishment, the person whose action or inaction has an unintended
discriminatory effect shall not be considered to have committed an
unlawful housing practice in violation of this part if the person can
establish that the action or inaction is necessary to achieve an
important purpose sufficiently compelling to override the
discriminatory effect and effectively carries out the purpose it is
alleged to serve.
   (1) Any determination of a violation pursuant to this subdivision
shall consider whether or not there are feasible alternatives that
would equally well or better accomplish the purpose advanced with a
less discriminatory effect.
   (2) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "business
establishment" shall have the same meaning as in Section 51 of the
Civil Code.



12955.9.  (a) The provisions of this part relating to discrimination
on the basis of familial status shall not apply to housing for older
persons.
   (b) As used in this section, "housing for older persons" means any
of the following:
   (1) Housing provided under any state or federal program that the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines is specifically
designed and operated to assist elderly persons, as defined in the
state or federal program.
   (2) Housing that meets the standards for senior housing in
Sections 51.2, 51.3, and 51.4 of the Civil Code, except to the extent
that those standards violate the prohibition of familial status
discrimination in the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
(P.L. 100-430) and implementing regulations.
   (3) Mobilehome parks that meet the standards for "housing for
older persons" as defined in the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act
of 1988 and implementing regulations.
   (c) For purposes of this section, the burden of proof shall be on
the owner to prove that the housing qualifies as housing for older
persons.


12956.  Upon notice that a verified complaint against it has been
filed under this part, any owner of housing accommodations shall
maintain and preserve any and all rental records or any other written
materials relevant to the complaint, until the complaint is fully
and finally disposed of and all appeals or related proceedings
terminated.



12956.1.  (a) As used in this section, "association," "governing
documents," and "declaration" have the same meanings as set forth in
Section 1351 of the Civil Code.
   (b) (1) A county recorder, title insurance company, escrow
company, real estate broker, real estate agent, or association that
provides a copy of a declaration, governing document, or deed to any
person shall place a cover page or stamp on the first page of the
previously recorded document or documents stating, in at least
14-point boldface type, the following:
   "If this document contains any restriction based on race, color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status,
disability, national origin, source of income as defined in
subdivision (p) of Section 12955, or ancestry, that restriction
violates state and federal fair housing laws and is void, and may be
removed pursuant to Section 12956.2 of the Government Code. Lawful
restrictions under state and federal law on the age of occupants in
senior housing or housing for older persons shall not be construed as
restrictions based on familial status."
   (2) The requirements set forth in paragraph (1) shall not apply to
documents being submitted for recordation to a county recorder.
   (c) Any person who records a document for the express purpose of
adding a racially restrictive covenant is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The county recorder shall not incur any liability for recording the
document. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a prosecution
for a violation of this subdivision shall commence within three years
after the discovery of the recording of the document.



12956.2.  (a) A person who holds an ownership interest of record in
property that he or she believes is the subject of an unlawfully
restrictive covenant in violation of subdivision (l) of Section 12955
may record a document titled Restrictive Covenant Modification. The
county recorder may choose to waive the fee prescribed for recording
and indexing instruments pursuant to Section 27361 in the case of the
modification document provided for in this section. The modification
document shall include a complete copy of the original document
containing the unlawfully restrictive language with the unlawfully
restrictive language stricken.
   (b) Before recording the modification document, the county
recorder shall submit the modification document and the original
document to the county counsel who shall determine whether the
original document contains an unlawful restriction based on race,
color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital
status, disability, national origin, source of income as defined in
subdivision (p) of Section 12955, or ancestry. The county counsel
shall return the documents and inform the county recorder of its
determination. The county recorder shall refuse to record the
modification document if the county counsel finds that the original
document does not contain an unlawful restriction as specified in
this paragraph.
   (c) The modification document shall be indexed in the same manner
as the original document being modified. It shall contain a recording
reference to the original document in the form of a book and page or
instrument number, and date of the recording.
   (d) Subject to covenants, conditions, and restrictions that were
recorded after the recording of the original document that contains
the unlawfully restrictive language and subject to covenants,
conditions, and restrictions that will be recorded after the
Restrictive Covenant Modification, the restrictions in the
Restrictive Covenant Modification, once recorded, are the only
restrictions having effect on the property. The effective date of the
terms and conditions of the modification document shall be the same
as the effective date of the original document.
   (e) The county recorder shall make available to the public
Restrictive Covenant Modification forms.
   (f) If the holder of an ownership interest of record in property
causes to be recorded a modified document pursuant to this section
that contains modifications not authorized by this section, the
county recorder shall not incur liability for recording the document.
The liability that may result from the unauthorized recordation is
the sole responsibility of the holder of the ownership interest of
record who caused the modified recordation.
   (g) This section does not apply to persons holding an ownership
interest in property that is part of a common interest development as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code if the
board of directors of that common interest development is subject to
the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 1352.5 of the Civil
Code.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12960-12976

12960.  (a) The provisions of this article govern the procedure for
the prevention and elimination of practices made unlawful pursuant to
Article 1 (commencing with Section 12940) of Chapter 6.
   (b) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful
practice may file with the department a verified complaint, in
writing, that shall state the name and address of the person,
employer, labor organization, or employment agency alleged to have
committed the unlawful practice complained of, and that shall set
forth the particulars thereof and contain other information as may be
required by the department. The director or his or her authorized
representative may in like manner, on his or her own motion, make,
sign, and file a complaint.
   (c) Any employer whose employees, or some of them, refuse or
threaten to refuse to cooperate with the provisions of this part may
file with the department a verified complaint asking for assistance
by conciliation or other remedial action.
   (d) No complaint may be filed after the expiration of one year
from the date upon which the alleged unlawful practice or refusal to
cooperate occurred, except that this period may be extended as
follows:
   (1) For a period of time not to exceed 90 days following the
expiration of that year, if a person allegedly aggrieved by an
unlawful practice first obtained knowledge of the facts of the
alleged unlawful practice after the expiration of one year from the
date of their occurrence.
   (2) For a period of time not to exceed one year following a
rebutted presumption of the identity of the person's employer under
Section 12928, in order to allow a person allegedly aggrieved by an
unlawful practice to make a substitute identification of the actual
employer.
   (3) For a period of time, not to exceed one year from the date the
person aggrieved by an alleged violation of Section 51.7 of the
Civil Code becomes aware of the identity of a person liable for the
alleged violation, but in no case exceeding three years from the date
of the alleged violation if during that period the aggrieved person
is unaware of the identity of any person liable for the alleged
violation.
   (4) For a period of time not to exceed one year from the date that
a person allegedly aggrieved by an unlawful practice attains the age
of majority.



12961.  Where an unlawful practice alleged in a verified complaint
adversely affects, in a similar manner, a group or class of persons
of which the aggrieved person filing the complaint is a member, or
where such an unlawful practice raises questions of law or fact which
are common to such a group or class, the aggrieved person or the
director may file the complaint on behalf and as representative of
such a group or class. Any complaint so filed may be investigated as
a group or class complaint, and, if in the judgment of the director
circumstances warrant, shall be treated as such for purposes of
conciliation and accusation. Where an accusation is issued as a group
or class accusation, the case shall be treated as a group or class
case for all other purposes of this part, including, but not limited
to, hearing, determination, reconsideration, and judicial
proceedings.



12962.  (a) The department shall cause any verified complaint filed
for investigation under the provisions of this part to be served,
either personally or by certified mail with return receipt requested,
upon the person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency
alleged to have committed the unlawful practice complained of.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), where a person claiming to be
aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice hires or retains private
counsel for purposes of representation of the claim, the private
counsel, and not the department, shall cause the verified complaint
filed under the provisions of this part to be served, either
personally or by certified mail with return receipt requested, upon
the person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency
alleged to have committed the unlawful practice.
   (c) Service shall be made at the time of initial contact with the
person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency or the
agents thereof, or within 60 days, whichever first occurs. At the
discretion of the director, the complaint may not contain the name of
the complaining party unless the complaint is filed by the director
or his or her authorized representative.



12963.  After the filing of any complaint alleging facts sufficient
to constitute a violation of any of the provisions of this part, the
department shall make prompt investigation in connection therewith.



12963.1.  Upon the filing of a complaint under Section 12960, 12961,
or 12980:
   (a) The department may issue and serve upon an individual,
corporation, partnership, association, public entity, or other
organization subpoenas to require the attendance and testimony of
witnesses by deposition or otherwise, and in connection therewith, to
require the production of books, records, documents, and physical
materials in the possession of, or under the control of, the
individual or organization named on the subpoena.
   (b) A subpoena shall be served by delivering a copy of the
subpoena to the individual named on the subpoena or to any person who
would be eligible to receive service of summons on behalf of the
individual or organization named on the subpoena, as provided in
Sections 416.10 through 416.90 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A
subpoena issued to a person, employer, labor organization, employment
agency, or public entity alleged to have committed an unlawful
practice in a complaint filed under Section 12960 or 12961 may also
be delivered to the agent or representative who has responded to the
department concerning the complaint on behalf of such person,
employer, labor organization, employment agency, or public entity.
The copy of the subpoena may be delivered by personal service, by
substituted service in accordance with Section 415.20 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, or by certified mail. The affidavit of the
individual serving the subpoena setting forth the manner of such
service, along with the return post office receipt in the case of
mail service, shall be sufficient proof of such service.
   (c) A subpoena for appearance and production of books, records,
documents, and physical materials shall identify with reasonable
particularity the things that are to be produced. The subpoena need
not be accompanied by an affidavit showing good cause or the
materiality of the things sought to be produced.
   (d) A subpoena for appearance and testimony at a deposition or
other proceeding issued to a corporation, partnership, association,
public entity, or other organization shall state with reasonable
particularity the matters on which testimony is sought. The
organization served with such a subpoena shall have the obligation of
producing as a witness one or more officers, directors, managing
agents, or other individuals to testify on its behalf as to the
matters specified in the subpoena.
   (e) Service of a subpoena shall be made so as to allow the
recipient of the subpoena a reasonable time for compliance. No
individual named on a subpoena shall be obliged to attend as a
witness before the department at a place out of the county in which
that person resides, unless the distance is less than 150 miles from
the individual's place of residence or good cause appears why
attendance of the witness at greater distance should be required.
Each witness who has appeared pursuant to a subpoena shall, upon
demand, be paid by the department the same fees and mileage allowed
by law to witnesses in civil cases.



12963.2.  Upon the filing of a complaint under Section 12960, 12961,
or 12980:
   (a) The department may issue and serve written interrogatories on
the same individuals and organizations and in the same manner as
subpoenas may be issued and served under Section 12963.1. Any
corporation, partnership, association, public entity, or other
organization to which interrogatories are issued has the obligation
of designating one or more officers, directors, managing agents, or
other individuals to answer the interrogatories on the organization's
behalf.
   (b) Within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories, or
such longer time as the department may permit, the recipient of the
interrogatories shall serve on the department written answers either
responding fully or stating any objection to each interrogatory
separately. The answers shall be made under oath and shall be signed
by each individual making them, and the answers shall identify which
individual has responded to each interrogatory.
   (c) When in order to answer an interrogatory it is necessary to
make a compilation, abstract, audit, or summary of the business
records of the recipient of the interrogatory and such a compilation,
abstract, audit, or summary does not exist or is not in the
possession or under the control of the recipient, it shall be a
sufficient answer to the interrogatory to so state and to specify the
records from which the answer may be derived or ascertained and to
afford the department reasonable opportunity to inspect and copy or
make compilations, abstracts, or summaries from such records.



12963.3.  (a) Depositions taken by the department shall be noticed
by issuance and service of a subpoena pursuant to Section 12963.1.
If, in the course of the investigation of a complaint, a subpoena is
issued and served on an individual or organization not alleged in the
complaint to have committed an unlawful practice, written notice of
the deposition shall also be mailed by the department to each
individual or organization alleged in the complaint to have committed
an unlawful practice.
   (b) A deposition may be taken before any officer of the department
who has been authorized by the director to administer oaths and take
testimony, or before any other person before whom a deposition may
be taken in a civil action pursuant to Section 2025.320 or
subdivision (d) of Section 2026.010 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The person before whom the deposition is to be taken shall put the
witness on oath and shall personally, or by someone acting under the
person's direction and in the person's presence, record the testimony
of the witness. The testimony shall be taken stenographically and
transcribed unless the parties agree otherwise. All objections made
at the time of the examination shall be noted on the deposition by
the person before whom the deposition is taken, and evidence objected
to shall be taken subject to the objections.



12963.4.  (a) The department may issue and serve requests for
production for inspection and copying of books, records, documents,
and physical materials in the possession or under the control of an
individual or organization. A request for production may be issued
and served on the same individuals and organizations and in the same
manner as subpoenas may be issued and served under Section 12963.1.
   (b) A request for production shall identify with reasonable
particularity the things that are to be inspected and shall specify a
reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection and
performing the copying, and may prescribe such terms and conditions
as are just.
   (c) Within 15 days after service of a request for production or
such longer time as the department may permit, the recipient of the
request shall serve on the department a written response with respect
to each item requested, either stating that inspection and copying
will be permitted as requested or objecting to the request and
stating the grounds of the objection. Unless a request for production
is objected to, the recipient of the request shall thereafter permit
the inspection and copying requested by the department.




12963.5.  (a) The superior courts shall have jurisdiction to compel
the attendance and testimony of witnesses, the production of books,
records, documents, and physical materials, and the answering of
interrogatories. If an individual or organization fails to comply
with a subpoena, interrogatory, request for production, or
examination under oath by refusing to respond fully or objecting
thereto, or by obstructing any proceeding before the department, the
department may file with a superior court a petition for an order
compelling compliance, naming as respondent the individual or
organization that has failed to comply. Such an action may be brought
in any county in which the department's investigation or inquiry
takes place, but if the respondent is not found within any such
county, such an action may be brought in the county of the respondent'
s residence or principal office.
   (b) The petition shall describe the inquiry or investigation
before the department, the basis for its jurisdiction therein, and
state facts showing that the subpoena, interrogatory, request for
production, or examination under oath was issued or carried out in
accordance with the requirements of this part, that the information
sought was identified with sufficient particularity to permit
response and is reasonably relevant to the inquiry or investigation
before the department, and that the respondent has failed to comply.
If the petition sets forth good cause for relief, the court shall
issue an order to show cause to the respondent; otherwise the court
shall enter an order denying the petition. The order to show cause
shall be served, along with the department's petition, on the
respondent in the same manner as summons must be served in civil
actions, and the order shall be returnable not less than 10 days from
its issuance nor later than 45 days after the filing of the
petition. The respondent shall have the right to serve and file a
written answer or other response to the petition and order to show
cause.
   (c) Unless otherwise stipulated by the parties, the court shall no
later than 30 days after the filing of the petition file its order
granting or denying the petition. However, the court may on its own
motion for good cause extend such time an additional 30 days. If the
order grants the petition in whole or part, the order shall set forth
the manner in which the respondent shall comply and the period of
time following the effective date of the order within which such
compliance is required. A copy of the order shall be served by mail
by the clerk upon the parties. If the order grants the petition in
whole or in part, the order shall not become effective until 10 days
after it is served. If the order denies the petition, it shall become
effective on the date it is served.
   (d) The order of the superior court shall be final and not subject
to review by appeal. A party aggrieved by such order, or any part
thereof, may within 15 days after the service of the superior court's
order, serve and file in the appropriate court of appeal a petition
for a writ of mandamus to compel the superior court to set aside or
otherwise modify its order. If or whenever such review is sought from
an order granting discovery, the order of the trial court shall be
stayed upon the filing of the petition for a writ of mandamus,
provided, however, the court of appeal may dissolve or modify the
stay thereafter if it is in the public interest to do so. If or
whenever such review is sought from a denial of discovery, the trial
court's order shall not be stayed by the court of appeal except upon
a clear showing of probable error.
   (e) Within 15 days after the end of the compliance period
specified in the final order of the superior court, after the
exhaustion of any challenges to the order in higher courts, the
department shall in writing certify to the court either that the
order has been complied with or that the respondent has failed to
comply. A copy of the certified statement shall be served on the
respondent by personal delivery or certified mail. After receipt of a
certified statement indicating the respondent's failure to comply
with the order, the court may compel obedience to its order by
contempt proceedings, and by making such additional orders as may be
appropriate. Following such proceedings, the department shall, within
15 days after the respondent complies with the original order of the
court, certify in writing to the court that such order has been
complied with. A copy of the certified statement shall be served on
the respondent by personal delivery or certified mail.
   (f) The period of time within which the department is directed to
file an accusation by Section 12965 shall be extended by the length
of the period between the filing of a petition under this section and
either (1) the final effective date, after the exhaustion of any
challenges to the original order in higher courts, of an order of the
superior court denying the petition, or (2) the filing by the
department of a certified statement, pursuant to subdivision (e),
indicating the respondent's compliance with the order of the superior
court granting the petition in whole or in part, whichever occurs
later.


12963.7.  (a) If the department determines after investigation that
the complaint is valid, the department shall immediately endeavor to
eliminate the unlawful employment practice complained of by
conference, conciliation, and persuasion. The staff of the department
shall not disclose what has transpired in the course of any
endeavors to eliminate the unlawful employment practice through
conference, conciliation, and persuasion.
   (b) Any member of the staff of the department who discloses
information in violation of the requirements of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor. Such disclosure by an employee subject to
civil service shall be cause for disciplinary action under the State
Civil Service Act.


12964.  Any agreement entered into by conference, conciliation and
persuasion shall be reduced to writing, signed by all parties, and
approved by the director or the authorized representative of the
director. Within one year of the effective date of every agreement,
the department shall conduct a compliance review to determine whether
the agreement has been fully obeyed and implemented. Whenever the
department believes, on the basis of evidence presented to it, that
any person is violating or about to violate any agreement, the
department may bring an action in the superior court against the
person to enjoin him or her from continuing or engaging in the
violation, or from doing anything in furtherance of the violation. In
the action an order or judgment may be entered awarding a temporary
restraining order or a preliminary or final injunction as may be
proper. The action may be brought in any county in which actions may
be brought under subdivision (b) of Section 12965. In resolving
allegedly unlawful practices through conciliation the resolutions may
be in the nature of, but are not limited to, types of remedies that
might be ordered after accusation and hearing.



12965.  (a) In the case of failure to eliminate an unlawful practice
under this part through conference, conciliation, or persuasion, or
in advance thereof if circumstances warrant, the director in his or
her discretion may cause to be issued in the name of the department a
written accusation. The accusation shall contain the name of the
person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency accused,
which shall be known as the respondent, shall set forth the nature of
the charges, shall be served upon the respondent together with a
copy of the verified complaint, as amended, and shall require the
respondent to answer the charges at a hearing.
   For any complaint treated by the director as a group or class
complaint for purposes of investigation, conciliation, and accusation
pursuant to Section 12961, an accusation shall be issued, if at all,
within two years after the filing of the complaint. For any
complaint alleging a violation of Section 51.7 of the Civil Code, an
accusation shall be issued, if at all, within two years after the
filing of the complaint. For all other complaints, an accusation
shall be issued, if at all, within one year after the filing of a
complaint. If the director determines, pursuant to Section 12961,
that a complaint investigated as a group or class complaint under
Section 12961 is to be treated as a group or class complaint for
purposes of conciliation and accusation as well, that determination
shall be made and shall be communicated in writing within one year
after the filing of the complaint to each person, employer, labor
organization, employment agency, or public entity alleged in the
complaint to have committed an unlawful practice.
   (b) If an accusation is not issued within 150 days after the
filing of a complaint, or if the department earlier determines that
no accusation will issue, the department shall promptly notify, in
writing, the person claiming to be aggrieved that the department
shall issue, on his or her request, the right-to-sue notice. This
notice shall indicate that the person claiming to be aggrieved may
bring a civil action under this part against the person, employer,
labor organization, or employment agency named in the verified
complaint within one year from the date of that notice. If the person
claiming to be aggrieved does not request a right-to-sue notice, the
department shall issue the notice upon completion of its
investigation, and not later than one year after the filing of the
complaint. A city, county, or district attorney in a location having
an enforcement unit established on or before March 1, 1991, pursuant
to a local ordinance enacted for the purpose of prosecuting HIV/AIDS
discrimination claims, acting on behalf of any person claiming to be
aggrieved due to HIV/AIDS discrimination, may also bring a civil
action under this part against the person, employer, labor
organization, or employment agency named in the notice. The superior
courts of the State of California shall have jurisdiction of those
actions, and the aggrieved person may file in these courts. An action
may be brought in any county in the state in which the unlawful
practice is alleged to have been committed, in the county in which
the records relevant to the practice are maintained and administered,
or in the county in which the aggrieved person would have worked or
would have had access to the public accommodation but for the alleged
unlawful practice, but if the defendant is not found within any of
these counties, an action may be brought within the county of the
defendant's residence or principal office. A copy of any complaint
filed pursuant to this part shall be served on the principal offices
of the department and of the commission. The remedy for failure to
send a copy of a complaint is an order to do so. Those actions may
not be filed as class actions or may not be maintained as class
actions by the person or persons claiming to be aggrieved where those
persons have filed a civil class action in the federal courts
alleging a comparable claim of employment discrimination against the
same defendant or defendants. In actions brought under this section,
the court, in its discretion, may award to the prevailing party
reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including expert witness fees,
except where the action is filed by a public agency or a public
official, acting in an official capacity.
   (c) (1) If an accusation includes a prayer either for damages for
emotional injuries as a component of actual damages, or for
administrative fines, or for both, or if an accusation is amended for
the purpose of adding a prayer either for damages for emotional
injuries as a component of actual damages, or for administrative
fines, or both, the respondent may within 30 days after service of
the accusation or amended accusation, elect to transfer the
proceedings to a court in lieu of a hearing pursuant to subdivision
(a) by serving a written notice to that effect on the department, the
commission, and the person claiming to be aggrieved. The commission
shall prescribe the form and manner of giving written notice.
   (2) No later than 30 days after the completion of service of the
notice of election pursuant to paragraph (1), the department shall
dismiss the accusation and shall, either itself or, at its election,
through the Attorney General, file in the appropriate court an action
in its own name on behalf of the person claiming to be aggrieved as
the real party in interest. In this action, the person claiming to be
aggrieved shall be the real party in interest and shall have the
right to participate as a party and be represented by his or her own
counsel. Complaints filed pursuant to this section shall be filed in
the superior court in any county in which unlawful practices are
alleged to have been committed, in the county in which records
relevant to the alleged unlawful practices are maintained and
administered, or in the county in which the person claiming to be
aggrieved would have worked or would have had access to public
accommodation, but for the alleged unlawful practices. If the
defendant is not found in any of these counties, the action may be
brought within the county of the defendant's residence or principal
office. Those actions shall be assigned to the court's delay
reduction program, or otherwise given priority for disposition by the
court in which the action is filed.
   (3) A court may grant as relief in any action filed pursuant to
this subdivision any relief a court is empowered to grant in a civil
action brought pursuant to subdivision (b), in addition to any other
relief that, in the judgment of the court, will effectuate the
purpose of this part. This relief may include a requirement that the
employer conduct training for all employees, supervisors, and
management on the requirements of this part, the rights and remedies
of those who allege a violation of this part, and the employer's
internal grievance procedures.
   (4) The department may amend an accusation to pray for either
damages for emotional injury or for administrative fines, or both,
provided that the amendment is made within 30 days of the issuance of
the original accusation.
   (d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the one-year statute of
limitations, commencing from the date of the right-to-sue notice by
the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, to the person claiming
to be aggrieved, shall be tolled when all of the following
requirements have been met:
   (A) A charge of discrimination or harassment is timely filed
concurrently with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
   (B) The investigation of the charge is deferred by the Department
of Fair Employment and Housing to the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
   (C) A right-to-sue notice is issued to the person claiming to be
aggrieved upon deferral of the charge by the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing to the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
   (2) The time for commencing an action for which the statute of
limitations is tolled under paragraph (1) expires when the federal
right-to-sue period to commence a civil action expires, or one year
from the date of the right-to-sue notice by the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing, whichever is later.
   (3) This subdivision is intended to codify the holding in Downs v.
Department of Water and Power of City of Los Angeles (1997) 58
Cal.App.4th 1093.
   (e) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the one-year statute of
limitations, commencing from the date of the right-to-sue notice by
the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, to the person claiming
to be aggrieved, shall be tolled when all of the following
requirements have been met:
   (A) A charge of discrimination or harassment is timely filed
concurrently with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
   (B) The investigation of the charge is deferred by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission to the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing.
   (C) After investigation and determination by the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission agrees to perform a substantial weight review of the
determination of the department or conducts its own investigation of
the claim filed by the aggrieved person.
   (2) The time for commencing an action for which the statute of
limitations is tolled under paragraph (1) shall expire when the
federal right-to-sue period to commence a civil action expires, or
one year from the date of the right-to-sue notice by the Department
of Fair Employment and Housing, whichever is later.



12966.  Where the department issues an accusation, or is about to do
so, and the respondent accused of engaging in unlawful practices
under this part is a state contractor or is a supplier of goods and
services to the state, the director shall send a written notice of
the issuance of the accusation and a copy of the accusation to the
appropriate awarding agency and request a report of any action which
the awarding agency takes in response to the department's
notification and issuance of accusation.



12967.  The commission shall hold hearings on accusations issued
pursuant to Section 12965 and shall determine the issues raised
therein.


12968.  Hearings shall take place not more than 90 days after the
issuance of the accusation upon which they are based.



12969.  The case in support of the accusation shall be presented
before the commission by the attorneys or agents of the department.
Any commissioner who, in regard to a particular case, shall have
previously been assigned to engage in investigation or conciliation
endeavors or shall otherwise have been or be personally or
professionally connected with the parties or factual situation of the
original complaint upon which the accusation is based, shall not
participate in the hearing except as a witness and shall not give his
or her opinion of the merits of the case, nor shall he or she
participate in the deliberations of the commission in such case. In
connection with complaints initiated by the director, the personal or
professional association of the commissioners with the director
shall not prohibit the commissioners from participating in the
deliberations of such cases. In any hearing, the content of
discussions or endeavors at conciliation shall not be received in
evidence.



12970.  (a) If the commission finds that a respondent has engaged in
any unlawful practice under this part, it shall state its findings
of fact and determination and shall issue and cause to be served on
the parties an order requiring the respondent to cease and desist
from the unlawful practice and to take action, including, but not
limited to, any of the following:
   (1) The hiring, reinstatement, or upgrading of employees, with or
without backpay.
   (2) The admission or restoration to membership in any respondent
labor organization.
   (3) The payment of actual damages as may be available in civil
actions under this part, except as otherwise provided in this
section. Actual damages include, but are not limited to, damages for
emotional injuries if the accusation or amended accusation prays for
those damages. Actual damages awarded under this section for
emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of
enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses shall not exceed, in
combination with the amounts of any administrative fines imposed
pursuant to subdivision (c), one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000) per aggrieved person per respondent.
   (4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the payment of actual damages
up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) assessed against
a respondent for a violation of Section 51.7 of the Civil Code, as an
unlawful practice under this part.
   (5) Affirmative or prospective relief to prevent the recurrence of
the unlawful practice.
   (6) A report to the commission as to the manner of compliance with
the commission's order.
   (b) An unlawful practice under this part alone is not sufficient
to sustain an award of actual damages pursuant to this section. The
department is required to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence,
that an aggrieved person has sustained actual injury. In determining
whether to award damages for emotional injuries, and the amount of
any award for these damages, the commission shall consider relevant
evidence of the effects of discrimination on the aggrieved person
with respect to any or all of the following:
   (1) Physical and mental well-being.
   (2) Personal integrity, dignity, and privacy.
   (3) Ability to work, earn a living, and advance in his or her
career.
   (4) Personal and professional reputation.
   (5) Family relationships.
   (6) Access to the job and ability to associate with peers and
coworkers.
   The commission shall also consider the duration of the emotional
injury, and whether that injury was caused or exacerbated by an
aggrieved person's knowledge of a respondent's failure to respond
adequately to, or to correct, the discriminatory practice or by the
egregiousness of the discriminatory practice.
   (c) In addition to the foregoing, in order to vindicate the
purposes and policies of this part, the commission may assess against
the respondent, if the accusation or amended accusation so prays, an
administrative fine per aggrieved person per respondent, the amount
of which shall be determined in accordance with the combined amount
limitation of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
   (d) In determining whether to assess an administrative fine
pursuant to this section, the commission shall find that the
respondent has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice, expressed
or implied, as required by Section 3294 of the Civil Code. In
determining the amount of fines, the commission shall consider
relevant evidence of, including, but not limited to, the following:
   (1) Willful, intentional, or purposeful conduct.
   (2) Refusal to prevent or eliminate discrimination.
   (3) Conscious disregard for the rights of employees.
   (4) Commission of unlawful conduct.
   (5) Intimidation or harassment.
   (6) Conduct without just cause or excuse.
   (7) Multiple violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
   The moneys derived from an administrative fine assessed pursuant
to this subdivision shall be deposited in the General Fund. No
administrative fine shall be assessed against a public entity. The
commission shall have no authority to award punitive damages as a
remedy for a finding of employment discrimination.
   (e) In addition to the foregoing, in order to vindicate the
purposes and policies of this part, the commission may assess against
the respondent if the accusation or amended accusation so prays, a
civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) to be
awarded to a person denied any right provided for by Section 51.7 of
the Civil Code, as an unlawful practice prohibited under this part.
   (f) If the commission finds the respondent has engaged in an
unlawful practice under this part, and the respondent is licensed or
granted a privilege by an agency of the state to do business, provide
a service, or conduct activities, and the unlawful practice is
determined to have occurred in connection with the exercise of that
license or privilege, the commission shall provide the licensing or
privilege granting agency with a copy of its decision or order.
   (g) If the commission finds that a respondent has not engaged in
an unlawful practice under this part, the commission shall state its
findings of fact and determination and issue and cause to be served
on the parties an order dismissing the accusation as to that
respondent.
   (h) Any findings and determination made or any order issued
pursuant to this section shall be written and shall indicate the
identity of the members of the commission who participated therein.
   (i) Any order issued by the commission shall have printed on its
face references to the rights of appeal of any party to the
proceeding to whose position the order is adverse.
   (j) If the commission finds that a respondent has engaged in an
unlawful practice under this part, and it appears that this practice
consisted of acts described in Section 243.4, 261, 262, 286, 288,
288a, or 289 of the Penal Code, the commission, with the consent of
the complainant, shall provide the local district attorney's office
with a copy of its decision and order.
   (k) Notwithstanding Section 12960, if the commission finds that a
respondent has engaged in unlawful discrimination in housing under
Section 12948, the remedies afforded in Section 12987 or any other
provision in this part pertaining to housing discrimination, shall
apply.


12971.  If, at any time during the proceedings described in this
part, after a complaint has been served on a respondent, the
complaint is withdrawn by the complainant or dismissed by the
department, or an investigation is terminated or closed by the
department, notice of this fact shall be given to the respondent and
the complainant without undue delay.



12972.  (a) The commission shall conduct all actions and procedures
in accordance with its procedural regulations.
   (b) (1) If the commission does not have a procedural regulation on
a particular issue, the commission shall rely upon pertinent
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 11370) of Part 1).
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Administrative Adjudication
Bill of Rights set forth in Article 6 (commencing with Section
11425.10) of Chapter 4.5 of Part 1, and the rules for judicial review
set forth in Section 11523, shall apply to the commission.
   (c) In addition to the discovery available to each party pursuant
to subdivision (a), the department and the respondent may each cause
a single deposition to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for
depositions in civil actions in the superior courts of this state
under Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.



12973.  (a) Within one year of the effective date of every final
order or decision issued pursuant to this part, the department shall
conduct a compliance review to determine whether the order or
decision has been fully obeyed and implemented.
   (b) If the time for judicial review of a final commission order or
decision has lapsed, or if all means of judicial review have been
exhausted, the department may apply to the superior court in any
county in which an action could have been brought under subdivision
(b) of Section 12965 for the enforcement of the order or decision or
order as modified in accordance with a decision on judicial review.
If, after a hearing, the court determines that an order or decision
has been issued by the commission and that either the time limits for
judicial review have lapsed, or the order or decision was upheld in
whole or in part on judicial review, the court shall issue a judgment
and order enforcing the order or decision or order as modified in
accordance with a decision on judicial review. The court shall not
review the merits of the order or decision. The court's judgment
shall be nonappealable and shall have the same force and effect as,
and shall be subject to all the provisions of law relating to, a
judgment in a civil action.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), where the reviewing
court denies a petition for writ of mandate seeking review of a
commission order or decision, the court shall enter judgment denying
the petition and enforcing the commission's final order or decision.
   (d) If the commission has found that a respondent has engaged in
an unlawful practice under this part and is liable for actual
damages, an administrative fine, or a civil penalty, any amount due
to that respondent by a state agency may be offset to satisfy the
commission's final order or decision.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission is
not liable for attorney's fees of parties to the administrative
adjudication of cases brought before the commission, including
proceedings brought pursuant to Section 11523 of this code and
Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure.




12974.  Whenever a complaint is filed with the department and the
department concludes on the basis of a preliminary investigation that
prompt judicial action is necessary to carry out the purposes of
this part, the director or his authorized representative may bring a
civil action for appropriate temporary or preliminary relief pending
final disposition of such complaint. Any temporary restraining order
or other order granting preliminary or temporary relief shall be
issued in accordance with Section 527 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
An action seeking such temporary or preliminary relief may be
brought in any county in which actions may be brought under
subdivision (b) of Section 12965.



12975.  Any person who shall willfully resist, prevent, impede or
interfere with any member of the department or the commission or any
of its agents or employees in the performance of duties pursuant to
the provisions of this part relating to employment discrimination, or
who shall in any manner willfully violate an order of the commission
relating to such matter, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail, not exceeding six months, or by a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.



12976.  Any person who willfully violates Section 12946 concerning
recordkeeping is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail, not exceeding six months, or by a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12980-12989.3

12980.  This article governs the procedure for the prevention and
elimination of discrimination in housing made unlawful pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 12955) of Chapter 6.
   (a) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged violation of
Section 12955, 12955.1, or 12955.7 may file with the department a
verified complaint in writing that shall state the name and address
of the person alleged to have committed the violation complained of,
and that shall set forth the particulars of the alleged violation and
contain any other information required by the department.
   The filing of a complaint and pursuit of conciliation or remedy
under this part shall not prejudice the complainant's right to pursue
effective judicial relief under other applicable laws, but if a
civil action has been filed under Section 52 of the Civil Code, the
department shall terminate proceedings upon notification of the entry
of final judgment unless the judgment is a dismissal entered at the
complainant's request.
   (b) The Attorney General or the director may, in a like manner,
make, sign, and file complaints citing practices that appear to
violate the purpose of this part or any specific provisions of this
part relating to housing discrimination.
   No complaint may be filed after the expiration of one year from
the date upon which the alleged violation occurred or terminated.
   (c) The department may thereupon proceed upon the complaint in the
same manner and with the same powers as provided in this part in the
case of an unlawful practice, except that where the provisions of
this article provide greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved
person than the provisions of Article 1 (commencing with Section
12960), the provisions of this article shall prevail.
   (d) Upon the filing of a complaint, the department shall serve
notice upon the complainant of the time limits, rights of the
parties, and choice of forums provided for under the law.
   (e) The department shall commence proceedings with respect to a
complaint within 30 days of filing of the complaint.
   (f) An investigation of allegations contained in any complaint
filed with the department shall be completed within 100 days after
receipt of the complaint, unless it is impracticable to do so. If the
investigation is not completed within 100 days, the complainant and
respondent shall be notified, in writing, of the department's reasons
for not doing so.
   (g) Upon the conclusion of each investigation, the department
shall prepare a final investigative report containing all of the
following:
   (1) The names of any witnesses and the dates of any contacts with
those witnesses.
   (2) A summary of the dates of any correspondence or other contacts
with the aggrieved persons or the respondent.
   (3) A summary of witness statements.
   (4) Answers to interrogatories.
   (5) A summary description of other pertinent records.
   A final investigative report may be amended if additional evidence
is later discovered.
   (h) If an accusation is not issued within 100 days after the
filing of a complaint, or if the department earlier determines that
no accusation will issue, the department shall promptly notify the
person claiming to be aggrieved. This notice shall, in any event, be
issued no more than 30 days after the date of the determination or 30
days after the date of the expiration of the 100-day period,
whichever date first occurs. The notice shall indicate that the
person claiming to be aggrieved may bring a civil action under this
part against the person named in the verified complaint within the
time period specified in Section 12989.1. The notice shall also
indicate, unless the department has determined that no accusation
will be issued, that the person claiming to be aggrieved has the
option of continuing to seek redress for the alleged discrimination
through the procedures of the department if he or she does not desire
to file a civil action. The superior courts of the State of
California shall have jurisdiction of these actions, and the
aggrieved person may file in these courts. The action may be brought
in any county in the state in which the violation is alleged to have
been committed, or in the county in which the records relevant to the
alleged violation are maintained and administered, but if the
defendant is not found within that county, the action may be brought
within the county of the defendant's residence or principal office. A
copy of any complaint filed pursuant to this part shall be served on
the principal offices of the department and of the commission. The
remedy for failure to send a copy of a complaint is an order to do
so. In a civil action brought under this section, the court, in its
discretion, may award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney's
fees.
   (i) All agreements reached in settlement of any housing
discrimination complaint filed pursuant to this section shall be made
public, unless otherwise agreed by the complainant and respondent,
and the department determines that the disclosure is not required to
further the purposes of the act.
   (j) All agreements reached in settlement of any housing
discrimination complaint filed pursuant to this section shall be
agreements between the respondent and complainant, and shall be
subject to approval by the department.



12981.  (a) In the case of failure to eliminate a violation of
Section 12955, 12955.1, or 12955.7 that has occurred, or is about to
occur, through conference, conciliation, and persuasion, or in
advance thereof if circumstances warrant, the director shall cause to
be issued in the name of the department, notwithstanding Section
12971, a written accusation, in the same manner and with the same
powers as provided in Section 12965, except that where the provisions
of this article provide greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved
person than Section 12965, the provisions of this article shall
prevail. An accusation alleging an unfair housing practice shall be
issued within 100 days after the filing of a complaint unless it is
impracticable to do so. The accusation shall require the respondent
to answer the charges at an administrative hearing or civil trial as
elected by the parties pursuant to Section 12989. Any aggrieved
person may intervene as a matter of right in the proceeding, and the
appeal or other judicial review of that proceeding.
   (b) If the department determines that an allegation concerns the
legality of any zoning or other land use law or ordinance, the
department or the Attorney General shall take appropriate action with
respect to the complaint according to the procedures established in
this part for other complaints of housing discrimination.
   (c) The commission shall hold hearings on accusations issued
pursuant to subdivision (a) in the same manner and with the same
powers as provided in Sections 12967 to 12972, inclusive, except that
where the provisions of this article provide greater rights and
remedies to an aggrieved person than do Sections 12967 to 12972,
inclusive, the provisions of this article shall prevail. The
commission shall make final administrative disposition of a complaint
alleging unfair housing practices within one year of the date of
filing of the complaint, unless it is impracticable to do so. If the
department is unable to make final administrative disposition of a
complaint within one year, it shall notify the complainant and the
respondent, in writing, of its reasons for not doing so.
   (d) Within one year of the effective date of every final order or
decision issued pursuant to this part, the department shall conduct a
compliance review to determine whether the order or decision has
been fully obeyed and implemented.
   (e) Whenever the department has reasonable cause to believe that a
respondent has breached a conciliation agreement, the department
shall refer the matter to the Attorney General with a recommendation
that a civil action be filed for the enforcement of the agreement.
   (f) If the time for judicial review of a final commission order or
decision has lapsed, or if all means of judicial review have been
exhausted, the department may apply to the superior court in any
county in which an action could have been brought under subdivision
(b) of Section 12965 for the enforcement of the order or decision or
order as modified in accordance with a decision on judicial review.
If, after a hearing, the court determines that an order or decision
has been issued by the commission and that either the time limits for
judicial review have lapsed, or the order or decision was upheld in
whole or in part on judicial review, the court shall issue a judgment
and order enforcing the order or decision or order as modified in
accordance with a decision on judicial review. The court shall not
review the merits of the order or decision. The court's judgment
shall be nonappealable and shall have the same force and effect as,
and shall be subject to all the provisions of law relating to, a
judgment in a civil action.



12981.1.  The department shall not dismiss a complaint or an
accusation unless the complainant withdraws the complaint or the
department determines after a thorough investigation that, based on
the facts, no reasonable cause exists to believe that an unlawful
housing practice, as prohibited by this part, has occurred or is
about to occur.



12983.  The department, or at its election the Attorney General, at
any time after a complaint is filed with it and it has been
determined that probable cause exists for believing that the
allegations of the complaint are true and constitute a violation of
this part, may bring an action in the superior court to enjoin the
owner of the property from taking further action with respect to the
rental, lease, or sale of the property, as well as to require
compliance with Section 12956, until the department has completed its
investigation and made its determination; but a temporary
restraining order obtained under this section shall not, in any
event, be in effect for more than 20 days. In this action an order or
judgment may be entered awarding the temporary restraining order or
the preliminary or final injunction in accordance with Section 527 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.



12984.  Except as provided in Section 12980, all matters connected
with any conference, conciliation, or persuasion efforts under this
part are privileged and may not be received in evidence. Except as
provided in Section 12980, the members of the department and its
staff shall not disclose to any person what has transpired in the
course of such endeavors to conciliate. Every member of the
department or its staff who discloses information in violation of
this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. Such disclosure by an
employee subject to civil service shall be cause for disciplinary
action under the State Civil Service Act.



12985.  When a person is contacted by the department, a
commissioner, or a member of the department's staff, following the
filing of a complaint against that person, the person shall be
informed whether the contact is for the purpose of investigation or
conference, conciliation, or persuasion; and if it is for conference,
conciliation, or persuasion, the person shall be informed that all
matters relating thereto are privileged.



12986.  The department shall within 10 days cause a copy of the
verified complaint that has been filed under the provisions of this
part to be served upon or mailed to the respondent alleged to have
committed the violation complained of and shall advise the respondent
in writing of his or her procedural rights and obligations. The
respondent may file an answer to the complaint.



12987.  (a) If the commission, after hearing, finds that a
respondent has engaged in any unlawful practice as defined in this
part, the commission shall state its findings of fact and shall issue
and cause to be served on the respondent an order requiring the
respondent to cease and desist from the practice and to take those
actions, as, in the judgment of the commission, will effectuate the
purpose of this part, including, but not limited to, any of the
following:
   (1) The sale or rental of the housing accommodation if it is still
available, or the sale or rental of a like housing accommodation, if
one is available, or the provision of financial assistance, terms,
conditions, or privileges previously denied in violation of
subdivision (f) of Section 12955 in the purchase, organization, or
construction of the housing accommodation, if available.
   (2) Affirmative or prospective relief, including injunctive or
other equitable relief.
   (3) The payment to the complainant of a civil penalty against any
named respondent, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000),
unless, in a separate accusation, the respondent has been adjudged to
have, with intent, committed a prior violation of Section 12955. If
the respondent has, in a separate accusation, been adjudged to have
committed a prior violation of Section 12955 within the five years
preceding the filing of the complaint, the amount of the civil
penalty may exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), but may not exceed
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). If the respondent, in
separate accusations, has been adjudged to have, with intent,
violated Section 12955 two or more times within the seven-year period
preceding the filing of the complaint, the civil penalty may exceed
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), but may not exceed fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000). All civil penalties awarded under this
provision shall be collected by the department. The commission may
award the prevailing party, other than the state, reasonable attorney'
s fees and costs against any party other than the state, including
expert witness fees.
   (4) The payment of actual damages to the complainant.
   (b) In determining whether to assess a civil penalty pursuant to
this section, the commission shall find that the respondent has been
guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice, expressed or implied, as
required by Section 3294 of the Civil Code. In determining the amount
of a civil penalty, the commission shall consider Section 12955.6
and relevant evidence of, including, but not limited to, the
following:
   (1) Willful, intentional, or purposeful conduct.
   (2) Refusal to prevent or eliminate discrimination.
   (3) Conscious disregard for fair housing rights.
   (4) Commission of unlawful conduct.
   (5) Intimidation or harassment.
   (6) Conduct without just cause or excuse.
   (7) Multiple violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
   (c) If the commission finds that the respondent has engaged in an
unlawful practice under this part, and the respondent is licensed or
granted a privilege by an agency of the state or the federal
government to do business, provide a service, or conduct activities,
and the unlawful practice is determined to have occurred in
connection with the exercise of that license or privilege, the
commission shall provide the licensing or privilege granting agency
with a copy of its decision or order.
   (d) If the commission finds that the respondent has engaged in an
unlawful practice under this part and is liable for actual damages or
a civil penalty, any amount due to the respondent by a state agency
may be offset to satisfy the commission's final order or decision.
   (e) No remedy shall be available to the aggrieved person unless
the aggrieved person waives any and all rights or claims under
Section 52 of the Civil Code prior to receiving a remedy, and signs a
written waiver to that effect.
   (f) The commission may require a report of the manner of
compliance.
   (g) If the commission finds that a respondent has not engaged in
any practice which constitutes a violation of this part, the
commission shall state its findings of fact and shall issue and cause
to be served on the complainant an order dismissing the accusation
as to that respondent.
   (h) Any order issued by the commission shall have printed on its
face references to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act
which prescribe the rights of appeal of any party to the proceeding
to whose position the order is adverse.



12987.1.  (a) Any party aggrieved by the commission's final order
for relief may obtain a review of that order in accordance with the
provisions of Section 11523 of this code and Section 1094.5 of the
Code of Civil Procedure except that the limitations on the court's
remedial powers as described in subdivision (f) of Section 1094.5 of
the Code of Civil Procedure shall not apply.
   (b) The superior court, in reviewing the commission's final order,
may award the following relief:
   (1) Grant to the petitioner, or any other party, temporary relief,
including, but not limited to, a restraining order, or other order
as the court deems just and proper.
   (2) Affirm, modify, or set aside, in whole or in part, the order,
or remand the order for further proceedings, and enforce the order to
the extent that it is affirmed or modified.
   (c) Any party to the proceeding before the commission or aggrieved
person may intervene as a matter of right in the superior court
proceeding.
   (d) When the time for petitioning a court for review of the
commission's order has expired, the department or any party to the
commission proceeding may petition a court for a decree enforcing the
commission's order. The court may grant any relief necessary to
ensure compliance with the commission's order.
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, where the
reviewing court denies a petition for writ of mandate seeking review
of a commission order or decision, the court shall enter judgment
denying the petition and enforcing the commission's order or
decision.


12988.  The commission and the department may engage in affirmative
actions with owners in furtherance of the purpose of this part as
expressed in Section 12920.



12989.  (a) If an accusation is issued under Section 12981, a
complainant, a respondent, or an aggrieved person on whose behalf a
complaint is filed may elect, in lieu of an administrative proceeding
under Section 12981, to have the claims asserted in the charge
adjudicated in a civil action under this part.
   (b) An election under this section may be made within 20 days
after the service of the accusation, and not later than 20 days after
service of the complaint to the respondent. A notice of election
shall be filed with the department, and the department shall serve a
copy of the notice to the director, the respondent, and the aggrieved
person on whose behalf the complaint is filed. The notice shall be
filed and served on all parties to the complaint in accordance with
the procedures established by Section 12962.
   (c) If either party serves a notice of election upon the
department, as prescribed, the department shall, within 30 days after
service of the notice of the election, dismiss the accusation. The
department shall itself, or at its election through the Attorney
General, within 30 days of receipt of the notice of election, file a
civil action with the proper superior court in its name or on behalf
of the aggrieved person as a real party in interest. In bringing a
civil or administrative action, or pursuing subsequent appeals of
those actions, the department or the Attorney General shall, in its
representation of an aggrieved person's interests, comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California. The
action may be filed in any county in the state in which the unlawful
practice is alleged to have been committed, in the county in which
the records relevant to that practice are maintained and
administered, or in the county in which the aggrieved person would
have resided in the housing accommodation. If the respondent is not
found within that county, the action may be filed in the county of
the respondent's residence or principal office.
   (d) Any person aggrieved with respect to the issues to be
determined in a civil action filed under this part may intervene as
of right in that civil action.
   (e) If an election is not made pursuant to this section, the
director shall maintain an administrative proceeding based on the
charges in the complaint in accordance with the procedures set forth
in Section 12981.
   (f) The director or his or her designated representative shall be
available for consultation concerning any legal issues raised by the
Attorney General that relate to evidentiary or tactical matters
relevant to any civil action brought under this part.



12989.1.  An aggrieved person may commence a civil action in an
appropriate court not later than two years after the occurrence or
the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice, or the
breach of a conciliation agreement entered into, whichever occurs
last, to obtain appropriate relief with respect to the discriminatory
housing practice or breach. The computation of the two-year period
shall not include any time during which an administrative proceeding
under this part was pending with respect to a complaint or accusation
under this part based upon the discriminatory housing practice or
breach.
   An aggrieved person may commence a civil action whether or not a
complaint has been filed under this part and without regard to the
status of any complaint. Any aggrieved person who is aggrieved with
respect to the issues to be determined in a civil action filed under
this part, may intervene in that civil action. However, if the
department has obtained a conciliation agreement with the consent of
an aggrieved person, no action may be filed under this part by the
aggrieved person with respect to the alleged discriminatory housing
practice that forms the basis for the complaint, except for the
purpose of enforcing the terms of the agreement.
   An aggrieved person may not commence a civil action with respect
to an alleged discriminatory housing practice that forms the basis of
an accusation issued by the department if the department has
commenced a hearing on the accusation.



12989.2.  (a) In a civil action brought under Section 12989 or
12989.1, if the court finds that a discriminatory housing practice
has occurred or is about to occur, the court may award the plaintiff
or complainant actual and punitive damages and may grant other
relief, including the issuance of a temporary or permanent
injunction, or temporary restraining order, or other order, as it
deems appropriate to prevent any defendant from engaging in or
continuing to engage in an unlawful practice. The court may, at its
discretion, award the prevailing party, other than the state,
reasonable attorney's fees and costs, including expert witness fees,
against any party other than the state.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission is
not liable for the attorney's fees of parties to the administrative
adjudication of cases brought before the commission, including
proceedings under Sections 11523 and 12987.1 of this code and Section
1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure.



12989.3.  (a) Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to
believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern
or practice of denying to others the full enjoyment of any of the
rights granted by this article, or that any group of persons has been
denied any of the rights granted by this article and that denial
raises an issue of general public importance, the Attorney General
shall commence a civil action in any court.
   (b) Upon referral from the department, the Attorney General may
commence a civil action in any appropriate court for appropriate
relief with respect to a discriminatory housing practice referred to
the Attorney General by the department under subdivision (b) of
Section 12981.
   (c) A civil action under this section may be commenced not later
than the expiration of 18 months after the date of the occurrence or
termination of the alleged discriminatory housing practice.
   (d) The Attorney General shall commence a civil action in any
appropriate court for appropriate relief with respect to breach of a
conciliation agreement referred to the Attorney General by the
department. A civil action shall be commenced under this paragraph
not later than the expiration of 90 days after the referral of the
alleged breach.
   (e) The Attorney General, on behalf of the department or other
party at whose request a subpoena is issued, under this article,
shall enforce that subpoena in appropriate proceedings in the court
for the judicial district in which the person to whom the subpoena
was addressed resides, was served, or transacts business.
   (f) In a civil action under this section, the court may award any
of the following:
   (1) Preventive relief, including a permanent or temporary
injunction, restraining order, or other order against the person
responsible for a violation of this title as is necessary to assure
the full enjoyment of the rights granted by this title.
   (2) Other relief as the court deems appropriate, including
monetary damages to persons aggrieved.
   (3) A civil penalty in an amount not exceeding fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000), for a first violation, and in an amount not
exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), for any subsequent
violation.
   (g) In a civil action under this section, the court, in its
discretion, may allow the prevailing party, reasonable attorney's
fees and costs, including expert witness fees, against any party
other than the state.
   (h) Upon timely application, any person may intervene in a civil
action commenced by the Attorney General under this section that
involves an alleged discriminatory housing practice with respect to
which that person is an aggrieved person or a conciliation agreement
to which that person is a party. The court may grant appropriate
relief to any intervening party as is authorized to be granted to a
plaintiff in a civil action under Section 12989.2.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12990

12990.  (a) Any employer who is, or wishes to become, a contractor
with the state for public works or for goods or services is subject
to the provisions of this part relating to discrimination in
employment and to the nondiscrimination requirements of this section
and any rules and regulations that implement it.
   (b) Prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the
state, an employer may be required to submit a nondiscrimination
program to the department for approval and certification and may be
required to submit periodic reports of its compliance with that
program.
   (c) Every state contract and subcontract for public works or for
goods or services shall contain a nondiscrimination clause
prohibiting discrimination on the bases enumerated in this part by
contractors or subcontractors. The nondiscrimination clause shall
contain a provision requiring contractors and subcontractors to give
written notice of their obligations under that clause to labor
organizations with which they have a collective bargaining or other
agreement. These contractual provisions shall be fully and
effectively enforced. This subdivision does not apply to a credit
card purchase of goods of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
or less. The total amount of exemption authorized herein shall not
exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year for each
company from which a state agency is purchasing goods by credit
card. It shall be the responsibility of each state agency to monitor
the use of this exemption and adhere to these restrictions on these
purchases.
   (d) The department shall periodically develop rules and
regulations for the application and implementation of this section,
and submit them to the commission for consideration and adoption in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1. Those rules and regulations shall describe
and include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Procedures for the investigation, approval, certification,
decertification, monitoring, and enforcement of nondiscrimination
programs.
   (2) The size of contracts or subcontracts below which any
particular provision of this section shall not apply.
   (3) The circumstances, if any, under which a contractor or
subcontractor is not subject to this section.
   (4) Criteria for determining the appropriate plant, region,
division, or other unit of a contractor's or subcontractor's
operation for which a nondiscrimination program is required.
   (5) Procedures for coordinating the nondiscrimination requirements
of this section and its implementing rules and regulations with the
California Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship, with the
provisions and implementing regulations of Article 9.5 (commencing
with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of Part 1, and with comparable
federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination, equal
employment opportunity, and affirmative action by those who contract
with the United States.
   (6) The basic principles and standards to guide the department in
administering and implementing this section.
   (e) Where a contractor or subcontractor is required to prepare an
affirmative action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program
subject to review and approval by a federal compliance agency, that
program may be filed with the department, instead of any
nondiscrimination program regularly required by this section or its
implementing rules and regulations. Such a program shall constitute a
prima facie demonstration of compliance with this section. Where the
department or a federal compliance agency has required the
preparation of an affirmative action, equal employment, or
nondiscrimination program subject to review and approval by the
department or a federal compliance agency, evidence of such a program
shall also constitute prima facie compliance with an ordinance or
regulation of any city, city and county, or county that requires an
employer to submit such a program to a local awarding agency for its
approval prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with that
agency.
   (f) Where the department determines and certifies that the
provisions of this section or its implementing rules and regulations
are violated or where the commission, after hearing an accusation
pursuant to Section 12967, determines a contractor or subcontractor
is engaging in practices made unlawful under this part, the
department or the commission may recommend appropriate sanctions to
the awarding agency. Any such recommendation shall take into account
the severity of the violation or violations and any other penalties,
sanctions, or remedies previously imposed.

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GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 12993-12996

12993.  (a) The provisions of this part shall be construed liberally
for the accomplishment of the purposes of this part. Nothing
contained in this part shall be deemed to repeal any of the
provisions of the Civil Rights Law or of any other law of this state
relating to discrimination because of race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual orientation,
unless those provisions provide less protection to the enumerated
classes of persons covered under this part.
   (b) Nothing contained in this part relating to discrimination in
employment on account of sex or medical condition shall be deemed to
affect the operation of the terms or conditions of any bona fide
retirement, pension, employee benefit, or insurance plan, provided
the terms or conditions are in accordance with customary and
reasonable or actuarially sound underwriting practices.
   (c) While it is the intention of the Legislature to occupy the
field of regulation of discrimination in employment and housing
encompassed by the provisions of this part, exclusive of all other
laws banning discrimination in employment and housing by any city,
city and county, county, or other political subdivision of the state,
nothing contained in this part shall be construed, in any manner or
way, to limit or restrict the application of Section 51 of the Civil
Code.


12993.5.  Notwithstanding Section 12993, nothing contained in this
part shall be construed, in any manner or way, to limit or restrict
the application of Section 51.7 of the Civil Code.



12995.  (a) Nothing contained in this part relating to
discrimination in housing shall be construed to:
   (1) Affect the title or other interest of a person who, prior to
the granting of relief, purchases, leases, or takes an encumbrance on
a housing accommodation in good faith and without either knowledge
or actual notice of the filing of a complaint with the department or
of a civil action.
   (2) Prohibit any postsecondary educational institution, whether
private or public, from providing housing accommodations reserved for
either male or female students so long as no individual person is
denied equal access to housing accommodations, or from providing
separate housing accommodations reserved primarily for married
students or for students with minor dependents who reside with them.
   (3) Prohibit selection based upon factors other than race, color,
religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial
status, disability, or other basis prohibited by the Unruh Civil
Rights Act.
   (4) Promote housing accommodations on a preferential or quota
basis.
   (b) Nothing contained in this part relating to discrimination in
housing shall affect the nondiscriminatory enforcement of state and
local public nuisance laws, provided that those laws do not otherwise
conflict with the provisions of this part.



12996.  If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this part
relating to discrimination in employment or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance, shall, for any reason, be adjudged by
a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall
not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this part and the
application thereof to other persons or circumstances, but shall be
confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part
thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment
shall have been rendered and to the person or circumstances involved.

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