CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE -- 1991-92 REGULAR SESSION ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2601 Introduced by Assembly Member Terry Friedman February 11, 1992 =================================================================== An act to add Section 1102.1 to the Labor Code, relating to employment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2601, as introduced, T. Friedman. Employment: discrimination: sexual orientation. Existing statutory law prohibits employers from making, adopting, or enforcing any policy that tends to control or direct the political activities or affiliations of employees. It also prohibits employers from coercing, influencing, or attempting to coerce or influence employees to adopt or follow or refrain from adopting or following any particular line of political activity by threatening a loss of employment. Existing case law, for purposes of the above provisions, recognizes that actions of homosexuals for equal rights, including actions in the field of employment, are political activity within the above statutory provisions and are protected from the adverse policies of employers and prospective employers. This bill would codicfy the above case law and would specify that the above statutory provisions prohibit discrimination or disparate treatment in any of the terms and conditions of employment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. It would provide that this prohibition shall not apply to a religious association or corporation not organized for private profit, whether incorporated as a religious or public benefit corporation. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. =================================================================== AB 2601 - 2 - The people of the State of California do enact as follows: 1 SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to codify 2 existing case law as determined in Gay Law Students v. 3 Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, 24 Cal. 3d 458 (1979) 4 and Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 235 Cal. App. 3d 654 5 (1991) prohibiting discrimination based on sexual 6 orientation. 7 SEC. 2. Section 1102. is added to the Labor Code, to 8 read: 9 1102.1. (a) Sections 1101 and 1102 prohibit 10 discrimination or disparate treatment in any of the terms 11 and conditions of employment based on actual or 12 perceived sexual orientation. 13 (b) This section shall not apply to a religious 14 association or corporation not organized for private 15 profit, whether incorporated as a religious or public 16 benefit corporation. O =================================================================== ======================================== Bryan J. Blumberg, The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation 815 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90041-1777 (213) 259-4914, B_BLUMBERG@MACSCH.COM