California employees enjoy some of the strongest workplace anti-discrimination protections in the country. While federal law sets a baseline, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) goes further: it covers smaller employers, protects more characteristics, allows larger damages, and gives workers more time to file. If you believe you have been treated unfairly at work because of who you are, here is what the law says and what to do about it.
What the Fair Employment and Housing Act Covers
The FEHA (California Government Code § 12900 and following) makes it unlawful for employers with five or more employees to discriminate against workers on the basis of a protected characteristic. The list is broad and includes:
- Race, color, ancestry, and national origin
- Religion
- Age (40 and older)
- Physical or mental disability
- Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
- Sexual orientation
- Marital status
- Medical condition and genetic information
- Military and veteran status
- Reproductive health decision-making
The law protects employees and job applicants alike, and it also bars retaliation against anyone who complains about discrimination, files a complaint, or participates in an investigation.
What Workplace Discrimination Looks Like
Discrimination is any adverse employment action taken because of a protected characteristic. The obvious examples are being fired, demoted, or denied a promotion. But discrimination often shows up in subtler forms:
- Being passed over for raises or desirable assignments given to less-qualified coworkers outside your protected class
- Sudden negative performance reviews that do not match your actual work record
- Exclusion from meetings, training, or opportunities that lead to advancement
- Unequal enforcement of attendance, discipline, or scheduling policies
- Being steered into lower-paying roles or shifts
Courts in California recognize two paths to proving discrimination. Disparate treatment means you were intentionally treated worse because of a protected trait. Disparate impact means a seemingly neutral policy disproportionately harms people in a protected group and cannot be justified as a business necessity. You do not need a supervisor to admit bias; patterns, comparator evidence, and shifting explanations can establish a case.
Harassment Is Prohibited Under the Same Law
The FEHA also bans workplace harassment based on any protected characteristic. Unlike the discrimination provisions, the anti-harassment rules apply to employers of any size, even a single employee. Harassment that is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment is unlawful, and employers can be held strictly liable for harassment by supervisors. California employers are also required to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment and discrimination, including maintaining and distributing a written anti-harassment policy.
Filing Deadlines: Three Years With the CRD, One Year After a Right-to-Sue Notice
Deadlines decide discrimination cases, so this section matters most. Before you can file a FEHA lawsuit in court, you must first exhaust your administrative remedies with the state agency:
- Three years from the date of the last discriminatory act to file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). The CRD was formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH); it was renamed in July 2022. Filing is free and can be started with a pre-complaint inquiry online or by calling 800-884-1684.
- One year from the date of a right-to-sue notice to file your civil lawsuit. If the CRD does not pursue your complaint, it issues this notice, and the one-year clock starts on its date. Many employees with counsel request an immediate right-to-sue notice so they can proceed directly to court.
If you also pursue a federal claim, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) deadline in California is 300 days, far shorter than the state deadline, so acting early protects both options. Filing a complaint with the CRD or EEOC is itself protected activity: any termination, demotion, pay cut, or schedule change that follows can support a separate retaliation claim.
What You Can Recover in a California Discrimination Case
California’s remedies are among the most employee-favorable in the nation. A successful FEHA claim can include:
- Economic damages: back pay, front pay, and lost benefits
- Emotional distress damages for the harm the discrimination caused
- Punitive damages where the employer’s conduct was malicious or oppressive. Unlike federal Title VII, the FEHA imposes no statutory caps on compensatory or punitive damages.
- Attorney’s fees to a prevailing employee, which California law mandates
Injunctive relief, such as reinstatement or changes to company policy, may also be available.
What to Do If You Believe You Have Been Discriminated Against
- Write everything down. Dates, names, witnesses, and exactly what happened and was said. Memory fades; contemporaneous notes do not.
- Preserve evidence. Save copies of performance reviews, emails, texts, schedules, and pay records. Keep them somewhere the employer cannot access.
- Use the internal complaint process. Reporting discrimination to HR or management creates a paper trail and puts the employer on notice, which strengthens a later claim.
- Do not sign anything under pressure. Separation agreements and releases can waive your rights. Have them reviewed before you sign.
- Talk to an employment lawyer early. The three-year and one-year deadlines run whether or not you are ready, and early advice preserves your options.
Get a Free Consultation
If you believe you were discriminated against at work in California, you do not have to navigate the process alone. Legal Corner Law Office, APC represents employees in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination matters throughout Los Angeles County. Contact us today for a free consultation: call (818) 350-7100 or visit our office at 550 N. Brand Blvd, Suite 1670, Glendale, CA 91203.