Existing law authorizes a victim of human trafficking, as defined, to bring a civil action for actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other appropriate relief within 5 years of the date on which the trafficking victim was freed from the trafficking situation, or if the victim was a minor when the act of human trafficking against the victim occurred, within 8 years after the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority.

This bill would require specified businesses and other establishments, upon the availability of a model notice developed by the Department of Justice, to post a notice, as specified, that contains information related to slavery and human trafficking, including information related to specified nonprofit organizations that provide services in support of the elimination of slavery and human trafficking. The bill would require the establishments to post the notice in a conspicuous place near the entrance of the establishment or in another conspicuous location in clear view of the public and employees where similar notices are customarily posted. The bill also would require the establishments to print the notice in English, Spanish, and in one other language that is the most widely spoken language in the county where the establishment is located and for which translation is mandated by the federal Voting Rights Act. The bill would require the Department of Justice, on or before April 1, 2013, to develop a model notice that complies with the above requirements and make the model notice available for download on the department’s Internet Web site. The bill would provide that a business or establishment that fails to comply with these requirements is liable for a civil penalty of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. The bill would authorize the Attorney General and local prosecutorial agencies, as specified, to bring an action to impose one of these civil penalties against a business or establishment if a local or state agency with authority to regulate that business or establishment has provided notice of the violation to the business or establishment, which informs the business or establishment that it is subject to a civil penalty if it does not correct the violation within 30 days from the date the notice is sent to the business or establishment, and verified that the violation was not corrected within that 30-day period.

To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on local government agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.