Unruh Civil Rights Act

This law provides protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California, including housing and public accommodations, because of:

  • Age
  • Ancestry
  • Color
  • Disability
  • Genetic Information
  • Medical Condition (cancer and genetic characteristcics)
  • Marital Status  
  • National Origin
  • Race
  • Religion
  • Sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, gender, gender identity and gender expression) 
  • Sexual Orientation

However California Supreme Court has held that protections under the Unruh Act are not necessarily restricted to these characteristics. The Act is meant to cover all arbitrary and intentional discrimination by a business establishment on the bases of personal characteristics similar to those listed above.

 

Civil Code, Division I, Part 2

Section 51, et seq.  Unruh Civil Rights Act