SAN FRANCISCO — The Second District Court of Appeal on Wednesday held that people with HIV/AIDS are protected from discrimination under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, finding that — as a matter of law — HIV is a disability.

The decision should make it easier for people to sue when they believe they’ve been discriminated against on the basis of their HIV status, said Arnold & Porter’s Sean SeLegue, who represented pro bono the woman who brought the case.