Effective January 1, 2016, Assembly Bill 987 prohibits an employer from retaliating or otherwise discriminating against a person for requesting accommodation of his or her disability or religious beliefs, regardless of whether the accommodation request was granted. This legislation was in response to the California Court of Appeal decision in Rope v. Auto-Chlor System of Washington, Inc., in which the court held that a request for reasonable accommodation was not a protected activity under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and therefore a claim of retaliation against an employer could not be made if an employer terminated an employee for requesting an accommodation. The legislature indicated that this opinion was in direct conflict with longstanding state and federal laws which do protect an employee’s right to request a reasonable accommodation and sought to amend FEHA to clarify that employees are protected from retaliation and discrimination for requesting a reasonable accommodation based on a disability or religious belief, regardless of whether the request is granted.