“The Unruh Act makes it illegal for businesses to discriminate while providing goods or services.”
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CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE
Religious Beliefs No Defense
To Unruh Act Discrimination Claims
By Christopher W. Olmsted
A customer seeks a service from your company, but one of your employees refuses to serve the customer because of the customer’s sexual orientation. The employee claims that it is against his religious beliefs to provide the service. May the company lawfully deny the customer service? No.
The California Supreme Court recently addressed this issue in a San Diego case titled North Coast Women’s Care Group, Inc. v. Superior Court. The case involved a medical clinic where some of the clinic’s physicians refused to provide fertility treatment to a lesbian patient.
The Unruh Act
The patient sued, alleging discrimination under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. The Unruh Act makes it illegal for businesses to discriminate while providing goods or services. Found in Civil Code, § 51, the Act provides: “All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, sexual orientation or medical condition are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
The Unruh Civil Rights Act’s antidiscrimination provisions apply to business establishments that offer to the public “accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services.”
Religious Beliefs No Defense
In their defense, the clinic and its doctors claimed that providing fertility services to the woman interfered with their free exercise of religion under the federal and state constitutions.
The California Supreme Court analyzed the federal and California constitutions, and concluded that the physicians could not violate the Unruh Act in the name of religious freedom. “A religious objector has no … constitutional right to an exemption from a neutral and valid law of general applicability on the ground that compliance with
that law is contrary to the objector’s religious beliefs.”
The Court compared this case to a 2004 case titled Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court. In that case, the Court held that a Catholic charity violated California law by refusing to include contraceptives in its employee health plan. The charity’s defense that contraceptives were contrary to Catholic beliefs was no defense.
The Court noted that the physicians were free to voice their objections to the law (they could exercise free speech), but the clinic nevertheless had to provide equal access to fertility treatments to avoid violation of the Unruh Act.
Avoiding Violations
The Court suggested that the clinic could have avoided a violation of the Unruh Act. One option would be to refuse to provide the treatment to all patients, regardless of sexual orientation. “To avoid any conflict between their religious beliefs and the state Unruh Civil Rights Act’s antidiscrimination provisions, defendant physicians can simply refuse to perform the medical procedure for any patient of North Coast, the physicians’ employer.” Another option, suggested the Court, was to employ additional physicians who had no religious objections. “[B]ecause they incur liability under the Act if they infringe upon the right to the ‘full and equal’ services of North Coast’s medical practice defendant physicians can avoid such a conflict by ensuring that every patient requiring IUI receives ‘full and equal’ access to that medical procedure though a North Coast physician lacking defendants’ religious objections.”
One of the justices, in a concurring opinion, noted that such a solution may not work for a solo-practice physician. No solutions were offered to solve that dilemma.
California’s civil rights laws may put your customers at odds with your employee’s religious beliefs. It is nevertheless a legal mandate to provide equal access to the company’s goods and services. Employees should be instructed not to refuse service based on the protected classes listed above. If there are concerns involving religious beliefs, employees should report the matter to management so that appropriate arrangements can be made to ensure compliance with the Unruh Act.
More Legal Update articles.
Download entire September Legal Update in PDF format.
This article is intended as a brief overview of the law and are not intended to substitute as legal advice. Any questions or concerns regarding any statute or case law should be addressed to a licensed attorney. Copyright © 2008 by Barker Olmsted & Barnier, APLC. San Diego, California. All rights reserved.
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