Federal law (Title VII) and California law (Fair Employment and Housing Act) protect employees from discrimination.  California law protects employees who work for an employer with at least 5 employees in any workday.

Both federal and California law protect current and former employees, as well as job applicants.

The federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin.  California law expands on these categories by also including sexual orientation, ancestry, physical and mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age or pregnancy.  Each of these categories has anti-discrimination rules that are unique to that category.

Both federal and California law protect against discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment (such as refusing to hire or promote, discharging from employment, and discriminating in compensation), hostile work environment, or retaliating against any person for opposing or reporting an unlawful practice.

A successful employee must show he or she suffered adverse employment action as a result of his or her protected characteristic.  This causal connection may be proven by showing (1) that intentional discrimination was a determinative factor in an adverse employment action, (2) violations that appear to be neutral but fall more harshly on one group and cannot be justified by business necessity, or (3) failure to accommodate where there is a duty to do so.

Employers sometimes defend on the ground the alleged discrimination is a bona fide occupational qualification.  This means the characteristic is directly related to the ability to perform the job duties at issue and the job qualification relates to the essence of the employer's business.

A successful employee may recover backpay (the amount of money the employee would have earned from the time of the adverse employment action until trial), future earnings (reasonable earnings from date of judgment until employee can assume a new position), reinstatement, compensatory damages (such as emotional distress), attorney's fees, punitive damages and injunctive relief.

The information you obtain on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.