Discrimination At Work
Gov. Code 12940 — five employees, three years to file, one year to sue
Under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, an employer may not refuse to hire, discharge, or discriminate in pay or the terms of employment because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, reproductive health decisionmaking, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or veteran or military status. An employer here is anyone regularly employing five or more persons.
- Harassing an employee or applicant because of any of those characteristics is unlawful.
- So is discharging or otherwise discriminating against a person for opposing a forbidden practice, or for filing a complaint, testifying or assisting in a proceeding.
- So is failing to make reasonable accommodation for a known physical or mental disability, short of undue hardship.
Three years to file with the Civil Rights Department, then one year from the right to sue notice. A complaint of an unlawful employment practice is filed with the department within three years of the practice. If the department does not sue within 150 days or decides it will not, it tells the person a right to sue notice is available on request, and a civil action may then be brought within one year from the date of that notice.
The one year period is tolled where a charge was filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at the same time, until the later of the federal deadline or one year from the notice.
Sources for this section (4)
- Gov. Code 12940 — Unlawful employment practices
- Gov. Code 12960 — Filing a complaint with the Civil Rights Department
- Gov. Code 12965 — The right to sue notice and the time to file suit
- Gov. Code 12926 — Definitions for the Fair Employment and Housing Act, including employer
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed California attorney.