FEHA (Fair Employment and Housing Act)
The Fair Employment and Housing Act, or FEHA, is California's primary anti-discrimination and anti-harassment law for the workplace. It prohibits employers with five or more employees from discriminating, harassing, or retaliating against workers based on protected characteristics like race, sex, age, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- FEHA is California's anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation statute, codified at Gov. Code §12940 et seq.
- Discrimination coverage starts at 5 employees; harassment coverage applies to every California employer regardless of size.
- Three years to file a CRD charge under Gov. Code §12960, then one year after right-to-sue to file in Superior Court.
- Damages have no statutory cap, which is why California plaintiffs almost always pair Title VII with FEHA and rely on the state claim for recovery.
Where FEHA Lives in California Law
FEHA lives at Gov. Code §12900 et seq., with the operative prohibitions in Gov. Code §12940. FEHA covers harassment by any employer regardless of headcount and reaches supervisors personally for harassment claims. The statute also imposes an affirmative duty on employers to prevent and correct workplace harassment.
Protected Characteristics Under FEHA
FEHA protects workers from discrimination based on:
- Race, color, ancestry, and national origin
- Religion or religious creed
- Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
- Sexual orientation
- Pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions
- Age (40 and over)
- Physical or mental disability and medical condition
- Genetic information
- Marital status, military or veteran status
- Reproductive health decisions
How FEHA Plays Out at Work
A retail district manager passes over a 52-year-old assistant store manager for promotion three times in two years, each time selecting a candidate under 35 with less experience. After the assistant manager complains internally about age bias, the district manager cuts her hours. Both the failure-to-promote and the hours cut are actionable under FEHA, the first as age discrimination, the second as retaliation under §12940(h).
Filing Deadlines and Process
Employees have three years from the last unlawful act to file a charge with the California Civil Rights Department, which enforces FEHA, under Gov. Code §12960. After CRD issues a right-to-sue letter, the employee then has one year to file in California Superior Court. If you think your employer has violated FEHA, a consultation with a California employment discrimination lawyer can map your filing window.
2024 update, Bailey v. San Francisco: The California Supreme Court held in Bailey v. San Francisco DPH (2024) 16 Cal.5th 757 that a single use of a particularly egregious racial epithet by a coworker can support a FEHA hostile-work-environment claim. The decision rejects the older "isolated incident" defense and signals that FEHA's severity standard now reaches further than federal precedent. We are already citing Bailey in oppositions to motions to dismiss that try to push old isolated-incident law.
From our practice: FEHA is the workhorse statute for California employment plaintiffs. The 5-employee discrimination threshold, the 1-employee harassment threshold, the three-year filing window, and the lack of damages caps combine to make it materially stronger than parallel federal claims. We rarely have a California case where Title VII is the centerpiece, because FEHA reaches farther on almost every variable that matters.
Think your employer broke FEHA?
Westview Law PC handles California employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims under FEHA. Talk to David M. Safvati about your filing window before it closes.
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