Source: https://www.nfib.com/content/issues/california/sb-1300-expands-feha-litigation-but-employers-and-lawyers-should-be-wary-of-sb-1300s-guidance-to-the-courts/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 09:49:21+00:00

Document:
Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1300 (Jackson) on September 30, 2018 as Chapter 955. Among other provisions, this comprehensive bill makes a number of statutory changes for litigating sexual harassment claims and prohibits employers from requiring employees to sign a release of claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act in exchange for a raise or as a condition of employment.
Effective January 1, 2019, the bill amends Sections 12940 and 12965 of and adds Sections 12923, 12950.2 and 12964.5 to the Government Code. This article first examines the statutory changes made by SB 1300 and then reviews the legislative intent language adopted.
There is a presumption that a statutory amendment was intended to change the meaning of the statute only when there is a material change contained in the language of the amended act. Dalton v. Baldwin (1944) 64 Cal.App.2nd 259. In other words, a statute is changed by a material amendment to the statutory language itself, but not by “legislative intent” language.
Similar results are found in other cases. For example, the amendment of a statute is evidence of an intention to change the rule stated by the court in applying its provisions. Butcher v. Brouwer (1942) 21 Cal.2d 354. And the fact that a lawmaking body knew decisions of appellate courts and made a substantial change in phraseology of a subdivision of the statute indicated an intention to effect a change of its meaning. Thomas v. Driscoll (1940) 42 Cal.App.2d 23. However, in both instances, there were changes made to the statutory language that was the subject of the legislative intent statements. Again, this was not the case with SB 1300.
In reviewing SB 1300, Section 1, subdivision (e), states, “Harassment cases are rarely appropriate for disposition on summary judgment.” However, SB 1300 does not amend Code of Civil Procedure Section 437(c), which sets forth the requirements regarding motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment is already an extremely high legal threshold whereby the “party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of material fact, and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law[.]” Aguilar v. Atl. Richfield Co., 25 Cal. 4th 826 (2001).
“While courts should grant motions for summary judgment by defendants sparingly, ‘sparingly’ does not mean ‘seldom if ever,’ and although such motions should be denied when they should, they must be granted when they must.” Id. at 852 (emphasis added). The intent language in SB 1300 seeks to restrain the discretion of the courts in their evaluation of the facts before them which is inappropriate because whether or not a case should be summarily adjudicated needs to be left to a judge to decide who knows the specific facts of the case without legislative influence.
Similarly, through the intent language of SB 1300, the bill seeks to lower the legal standard for hostile work environment claims by referring to a single quote by a single justice’s concurring opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Harris v. Forklift Systems (1993) 510 U.S. 17. However, the author removed from her bill all of the statutory amendments that would have actually changed the legal standard for actionable harassment cases.
As SB 1300 did not change the statutory standards for summary judgment and hostile work environment, the superfluous intent language contained in SB 1300 does not serve to provide guidance regarding either of these standards. See Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 19 Cal.4th 1036, 1046–1047. As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, “We are governed by laws, not by the intentions of legislators.” Conroy v. Aniskoff (1993) 507 U.S. 511, 519.
As a result, including broad “intent” language appears inconsistent with canons of statutory construction and prior court precedent. As such, the intent language of SB 1300 will surely increase employer costs as lawyers attempt to erroneously utilize the “findings and declarations” in SB 1300 to expand FEHA litigation in this state.
Laura Curtis is an attorney and Policy Advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce. Chris Micheli is an attorney and legislative advocate for the Sacramento governmental relations firm of Aprea & Micheli, Inc.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.