O'CONNOR v. Village Green Owners Assn.

662 P.2d 427, 33 Cal. 3d 790, 191 Cal. Rptr. 320, 1983 Cal. LEXIS 182
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 9, 1983
DocketL.A. 31495
StatusPublished
Cited by120 cases

This text of 662 P.2d 427 (O'CONNOR v. Village Green Owners Assn.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'CONNOR v. Village Green Owners Assn., 662 P.2d 427, 33 Cal. 3d 790, 191 Cal. Rptr. 320, 1983 Cal. LEXIS 182 (Cal. 1983).

Opinions

Opinion

KAUS, J.

These consolidated appeals involve the validity and enforceability of an age restriction in the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC & Rs) of a condominium development which limits residency to persons over the age of 18. In Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson (1982) 30 Cal.3d 721 [180 Cal.Rptr. 496, 640 P.2d 115], we recently condemned such an age restriction in an apartment complex as violative of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51). We conclude that the age restriction in the CC & Rs of a condominium development also violates the act.

The Village Green is a housing complex of 629 units in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. It was built in 1942 and was operated as an apartment complex until 1973 when it was converted to a condominium development. As [793]*793part of the condominium conversion the developer drafted and recorded a declaration of CC & Rs which run with the property and which contain a prohibition against residency by anyone under the age of 18.1 The CC & Rs also establish the Village Green Owners Association (association) and authorize it to enforce the regulations set forth therein. The association is a nonprofit organization whose membership consists of all owners of units at Village Green.

John and Denise O’Connor bought a two-bedroom unit in Village Green in 1975. On July 4, 1979, their son Gavin was born. Shortly thereafter, the association gave them written notice that the presence of their son Gavin in the unit constituted a violation of the CC & Rs and directed them to discontinue having Gavin live there.

After making unsuccessful attempts to find other suitable housing, the O’Connors filed a complaint against the association seeking to have the age restriction declared invalid and to enjoin its enforcement. The first amended complaint alleged, inter alia, that the age restriction violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51).2 The association filed a general demurrer which the trial court sustained without leave to amend. The action was dismissed and the O’Connors appealed.

After the O’Connors’ notice of appeal was filed, the association filed an action to enjoin the O’Connors from residing in the condominium with their son. The trial court granted a preliminary injunction but stayed its enforcement for 90 days to allow the O’Connors to find other housing. The O’Connors filed a notice of appeal. Since the preliminary injunction was mandatory, the filing of the notice of appeal stayed its effect. (See 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 177, p. 4166 and cases cited therein.) This opinion disposes of both appeals.

In Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson, supra, 30 Cal.3d 721, we considered the question of whether the Unruh Civil Rights Act (the act) prohibited an apartment owner’s discrimination against children. We reviewed the history of the act—Civil Code section 51—and noted that it had emanated from earlier “public accommodation” legislation and had extended the reach of such statutes from common carriers and places of accommodation to cover “all [794]*794business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”3 Relying on our interpretation of the act in In re Cox (1970) 3 Cal.3d 205 [90 Cal.Rptr. 24, 474 P.2d 992], we held that the act barred all types of arbitrary discrimination. The. act’s reference to particular bases of discrimination—“sex, color, race, religion, ancestry or national origin”—was illustrative rather than restrictive.

We noted, however, that although the act prohibits a business establishment. from engaging in any form of arbitrary discrimination, it does not absolutely . prohibit such an establishment from excluding a customer in all circumstances. “ ‘Clearly, an entrepreneur need not tolerate customers who damage property,. injure others or otherwise disrupt his business. A business establishment may, of course, promulgate reasonable deportment regulations that are rationally related to the services performed and the facilities provided.’” (Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 737; quoting from In re Cox, supra, 3 Cal.3d at p. 217.) We rejected, however, the landlord’s contention in Marina Point that the exclusion of children was such a reasonable restriction. It was not a sufficient justification to state that children are “rowdier, noisier, more mischievous and more boisterous than adults.” (30 Cal.3d at p. 737.) Exclusion of persons based on a generalization about the class to which they belong is not permissible. (Id., at pp. 736-740.) Nor could exclusion of children from an ordinary apartment complex be justified on the basis that the presence of children does not accord with the nature of the business enterprise and of the facilities provided—as might be said of bars, adult book stores and senior , citizens homes. (Id., at p. 741.)

In sum, we held in Marina Point that the landlord’s blanket exclusion of children from residency was prohibited by the act. It could not be justified by any claim about generalized characteristics of children or the nature of the apartment complex. Indeed, the claim that the facilities were incompatible with the presence of children was belied by the fact that children formerly had been permitted to reside in the complex. (30 Cal.3d at p. 744, fn. 13.)

In Marina Point there was no question that the apartment complex was a “business establishment” within the meaning of the act. The determinative question in that case was whether the act encompassed discrimination against children. Since that question was answered in Marina Point, the only question . to be decided in the present case is whether the discriminatory policy against children is being invoked by a ‘‘business establishment” within the meaning of the act.

[795]*795The act protects all persons from arbitrary discrimination in “accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” (Civ. Code, §51.) We discussed the scope of that language in Burks v. Poppy Construction Co. (1962) 57 Cal.2d 463, 468-469 [20 Cal.Rptr. 609, 370 P.2d 313]: “The Legislature used the words ‘all’ and ‘of every kind whatsoever’ in referring to business establishments covered by the Unruh Act (Civ. Code, § 51), and the inclusion of these words without any exception and without specification of particular kinds of enterprises, leaves no doubt that the term ‘business establishments’ was used in the broadest sense reasonably possible. The word ‘business’ embraces everything about which one can be employed, and it is often synonymous with ‘calling, occupation, or trade, engaged in for the purpose of making a livelihood or gain.’ [Citations.] The word ‘establishment,’ as broadly defined, includes not only a fixed location, such as the ‘place where one is permanently fixed for residence or business,’ but also a permanent ‘commercial force or organization’ or ‘a permanent settled position (as in life or business).’ [Citation.]”

In Burks,

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Bluebook (online)
662 P.2d 427, 33 Cal. 3d 790, 191 Cal. Rptr. 320, 1983 Cal. LEXIS 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oconnor-v-village-green-owners-assn-cal-1983.