SSB 6239 -
By Senator Swecker
NOT ADOPTED 02/01/2012
On page 4, after line 24, insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 A new section is added to chapter 26.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) No individual or entity is required to provide accommodations,
facilities, advantages, privileges, service, or goods related to the
solemnization or celebration of a marriage if such a marriage is
contrary to their religious beliefs.
(2) An individual or organization protected by subsection (1) of
this section is immune from any civil claim or cause of action,
including a claim pursuant to chapter 49.60 RCW, based on its refusal
to provide accommodations, facilities, advantages, privileges, service,
or goods related to the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.
Sec. 9 RCW 49.60.030 and 2009 c 164 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The right to be free from discrimination because of race,
creed, color, national origin, sex, honorably discharged veteran or
military status, sexual orientation, or the presence of any sensory,
mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or
service animal by a person with a disability is recognized as and
declared to be a civil right. This right shall include, but not be
limited to:
(a) The right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination;
(b) The right to the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations,
advantages, facilities, or privileges of any place of public resort,
accommodation, assemblage, or amusement;
(c) The right to engage in real estate transactions without
discrimination, including discrimination against families with
children;
(d) The right to engage in credit transactions without
discrimination;
(e) The right to engage in insurance transactions or transactions
with health maintenance organizations without discrimination:
PROVIDED, That a practice which is not unlawful under RCW 48.30.300,
48.44.220, or 48.46.370 does not constitute an unfair practice for the
purposes of this subparagraph;
(f) The right to engage in commerce free from any discriminatory
boycotts or blacklists. Discriminatory boycotts or blacklists for
purposes of this section shall be defined as the formation or execution
of any express or implied agreement, understanding, policy or
contractual arrangement for economic benefit between any persons which
is not specifically authorized by the laws of the United States and
which is required or imposed, either directly or indirectly, overtly or
covertly, by a foreign government or foreign person in order to
restrict, condition, prohibit, or interfere with or in order to exclude
any person or persons from any business relationship on the basis of
race, color, creed, religion, sex, honorably discharged veteran or
military status, sexual orientation, the presence of any sensory,
mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or
service animal by a person with a disability, or national origin or
lawful business relationship: PROVIDED HOWEVER, That nothing herein
contained shall prohibit the use of boycotts as authorized by law
pertaining to labor disputes and unfair labor practices: PROVIDED
FURTHER, That nothing herein contained shall prohibit the right of an
individual or entity to deny services or goods related to the
solemnization of a marriage if such a marriage is contrary to the
individual's or the owner of the entity's religious beliefs; and
(g) The right of a mother to breastfeed her child in any place of
public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement.
(2) Any person deeming himself or herself injured by any act in
violation of this chapter shall have a civil action in a court of
competent jurisdiction to enjoin further violations, or to recover the
actual damages sustained by the person, or both, together with the cost
of suit including reasonable attorneys' fees or any other appropriate
remedy authorized by this chapter or the United States Civil Rights Act
of 1964 as amended, or the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq.).
(3) Except for any unfair practice committed by an employer against
an employee or a prospective employee, or any unfair practice in a real
estate transaction which is the basis for relief specified in the
amendments to RCW 49.60.225 contained in chapter 69, Laws of 1993, any
unfair practice prohibited by this chapter which is committed in the
course of trade or commerce as defined in the Consumer Protection Act,
chapter 19.86 RCW, is, for the purpose of applying that chapter, a
matter affecting the public interest, is not reasonable in relation to
the development and preservation of business, and is an unfair or
deceptive act in trade or commerce.
Sec. 10 RCW 49.60.040 and 2009 c 187 s 3 are each reenacted and
amended to read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Aggrieved person" means any person who: (a) Claims to have
been injured by an unfair practice in a real estate transaction; or (b)
believes that he or she will be injured by an unfair practice in a real
estate transaction that is about to occur.
(2) "Any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or
amusement" includes, but is not limited to, any place, licensed or
unlicensed, kept for gain, hire, or reward, or where charges are made
for admission, service, occupancy, or use of any property or
facilities, whether conducted for the entertainment, housing, or
lodging of transient guests, or for the benefit, use, or accommodation
of those seeking health, recreation, or rest, or for the burial or
other disposition of human remains, or for the sale of goods,
merchandise, services, or personal property, or for the rendering of
personal services, or for public conveyance or transportation on land,
water, or in the air, including the stations and terminals thereof and
the garaging of vehicles, or where food or beverages of any kind are
sold for consumption on the premises, or where public amusement,
entertainment, sports, or recreation of any kind is offered with or
without charge, or where medical service or care is made available, or
where the public gathers, congregates, or assembles for amusement,
recreation, or public purposes, or public halls, public elevators, and
public washrooms of buildings and structures occupied by two or more
tenants, or by the owner and one or more tenants, or any public library
or educational institution, or schools of special instruction, or
nursery schools, or day care centers or children's camps: PROVIDED,
That nothing contained in this definition shall be construed to include
or apply to any institute, bona fide club, or place of accommodation,
which is by its nature distinctly private, including fraternal
organizations, though where public use is permitted that use shall be
covered by this chapter; nor shall anything contained in this
definition apply to any educational facility, columbarium, crematory,
mausoleum, or cemetery operated or maintained by a bona fide religious
or sectarian institution: PROVIDED FURTHER, That nothing contained in
this definition shall be construed to include any place of public
resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement that is used for the
celebration or solemnization of a marriage if the owner or owners
assert that such a marriage is contrary to their religious beliefs.
(3) "Commission" means the Washington state human rights
commission.
(4) "Complainant" means the person who files a complaint in a real
estate transaction.
(5) "Covered multifamily dwelling" means: (a) Buildings consisting
of four or more dwelling units if such buildings have one or more
elevators; and (b) ground floor dwelling units in other buildings
consisting of four or more dwelling units.
(6) "Credit transaction" includes any open or closed end credit
transaction, whether in the nature of a loan, retail installment
transaction, credit card issue or charge, or otherwise, and whether for
personal or for business purposes, in which a service, finance, or
interest charge is imposed, or which provides for repayment in
scheduled payments, when such credit is extended in the regular course
of any trade or commerce, including but not limited to transactions by
banks, savings and loan associations or other financial lending
institutions of whatever nature, stock brokers, or by a merchant or
mercantile establishment which as part of its ordinary business permits
or provides that payment for purchases of property or service therefrom
may be deferred.
(7)(a) "Disability" means the presence of a sensory, mental, or
physical impairment that:
(i) Is medically cognizable or diagnosable; or
(ii) Exists as a record or history; or
(iii) Is perceived to exist whether or not it exists in fact.
(b) A disability exists whether it is temporary or permanent,
common or uncommon, mitigated or unmitigated, or whether or not it
limits the ability to work generally or work at a particular job or
whether or not it limits any other activity within the scope of this
chapter.
(c) For purposes of this definition, "impairment" includes, but is
not limited to:
(i) Any physiological disorder, or condition, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the
following body systems: Neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense
organs, respiratory, including speech organs, cardiovascular,
reproductive, digestive, genitor-urinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin,
and endocrine; or
(ii) Any mental, developmental, traumatic, or psychological
disorder, including but not limited to cognitive limitation, organic
brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning
disabilities.
(d) Only for the purposes of qualifying for reasonable
accommodation in employment, an impairment must be known or shown
through an interactive process to exist in fact and:
(i) The impairment must have a substantially limiting effect upon
the individual's ability to perform his or her job, the individual's
ability to apply or be considered for a job, or the individual's access
to equal benefits, privileges, or terms or conditions of employment; or
(ii) The employee must have put the employer on notice of the
existence of an impairment, and medical documentation must establish a
reasonable likelihood that engaging in job functions without an
accommodation would aggravate the impairment to the extent that it
would create a substantially limiting effect.
(e) For purposes of (d) of this subsection, a limitation is not
substantial if it has only a trivial effect.
(8) "Dog guide" means a dog that is trained for the purpose of
guiding blind persons or a dog that is trained for the purpose of
assisting hearing impaired persons.
(9) "Dwelling" means any building, structure, or portion thereof
that is occupied as, or designed 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 or location thereon of any such
building, structure, or portion thereof.
(10) "Employee" does not include any individual employed by his or
her parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any
person.
(11) "Employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an
employer, directly or indirectly, who employs eight or more persons,
and does not include any religious or sectarian organization not
organized for private profit.
(12) "Employment agency" includes any person undertaking with or
without compensation to recruit, procure, refer, or place employees for
an employer.
(13) "Families with children status" means one or more individuals
who have not attained the age of eighteen years being domiciled with a
parent or another person having legal custody of such individual or
individuals, or with the designee of such parent or other person having
such legal custody, with the written permission of such parent or other
person. Families with children status also applies to any person who
is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any
individual who has not attained the age of eighteen years.
(14) "Full enjoyment of" includes the right to purchase any
service, commodity, or article of personal property offered or sold on,
or by, any establishment to the public, and the admission of any person
to accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of any place
of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement, without acts
directly or indirectly causing persons of any particular race, creed,
color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, or with any sensory,
mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or
service animal by a person with a disability, to be treated as not
welcome, accepted, desired, or solicited.
(15) "Honorably discharged veteran or military status" means a
person who is:
(a) A veteran, as defined in RCW 41.04.007; or
(b) An active or reserve member in any branch of the armed forces
of the United States, including the national guard, coast guard, and
armed forces reserves.
(16) "Labor organization" includes any organization which exists
for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers
concerning grievances or terms or conditions of employment, or for
other mutual aid or protection in connection with employment.
(17) "Marital status" means the legal status of being married,
single, separated, divorced, or widowed.
(18) "National origin" includes "ancestry."
(19) "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships,
associations, organizations, corporations, cooperatives, legal
representatives, trustees and receivers, or any group of persons; it
includes any owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, agent, or employee,
whether one or more natural persons; and further includes any political
or civil subdivisions of the state and any agency or instrumentality of
the state or of any political or civil subdivision thereof.
(20) "Premises" means the interior or exterior spaces, parts,
components, or elements of a building, including individual dwelling
units and the public and common use areas of a building.
(21) "Real estate transaction" includes the sale, appraisal,
brokering, exchange, purchase, rental, or lease of real property,
transacting or applying for a real estate loan, or the provision of
brokerage services.
(22) "Real property" includes buildings, structures, dwellings,
real estate, lands, tenements, leaseholds, interests in real estate
cooperatives, condominiums, and hereditaments, corporeal and
incorporeal, or any interest therein.
(23) "Respondent" means any person accused in a complaint or
amended complaint of an unfair practice in a real estate transaction.
(24) "Service animal" means an animal that is trained for the
purpose of assisting or accommodating a sensory, mental, or physical
disability of a person with a disability.
(25) "Sex" means gender.
(26) "Sexual orientation" means heterosexuality, homosexuality,
bisexuality, and gender expression or identity. As used in this
definition, "gender expression or identity" means having or being
perceived as having a gender identity, self-image, appearance,
behavior, or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression is different from that
traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth.
Sec. 11 RCW 49.60.215 and 2011 c 237 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) It shall be an unfair practice for any person or the person's
agent or employee to commit an act which directly or indirectly results
in any distinction, restriction, or discrimination, or the requiring of
any person to pay a larger sum than the uniform rates charged other
persons, or the refusing or withholding from any person the admission,
patronage, custom, presence, frequenting, dwelling, staying, or lodging
in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement,
except for conditions and limitations established by law and applicable
to all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin,
sexual orientation, sex, honorably discharged veteran or military
status, status as a mother breastfeeding her child, the presence of any
sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog
guide or service animal by a person with a disability: PROVIDED, That
this section shall not be construed to require structural changes,
modifications, or additions to make any place accessible to a person
with a disability except as otherwise required by law: PROVIDED, That
behavior or actions constituting a risk to property or other persons
can be grounds for refusal and shall not constitute an unfair practice:
PROVIDED FURTHER, That an individual or entity shall not be required to
provide accommodations, facilities, advantages, privileges, services,
or goods related to the solemnization or celebration of a marriage that
is in conflict with the individual's or the owner of the entity's
religious beliefs.
(2) This section does not apply to food establishments, as defined
in RCW 49.60.218, with respect to the use of a trained dog guide or
service animal by a person with a disability. Food establishments are
subject to RCW 49.60.218 with respect to trained dog guides and service
animals."
Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.
SSB 6239 -
By Senator Swecker
NOT ADOPTED 02/01/2012
On page 1, beginning on line 4 of the title, after "26.04.070," strike all material through "1.12.080" on line 5 and insert "49.60.030, 49.60.215, 26.60.010, 26.60.030, 26.60.090, and 1.12.080; reenacting and amending RCW 49.60.040"
EFFECT: Provides that individuals and entities are not required to provide public accommodations, facilities, advantages, privileges, services, or goods related to the solemnization or celebration of a marriage that is in conflict with the individual's or the entity owner's religious beliefs. Amends the human rights commission's statutes.