What Is FEHA? California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act

The Fair Employment and Housing Act, known as FEHA, is California’s main anti-discrimination law. It protects employees, job applicants, tenants, and homebuyers in California from bias based on more than a dozen personal characteristics, and it reaches further than federal civil rights law in three important ways: it applies to smaller employers, it recognizes more protected categories, and it places no cap on the damages a court can award. The statute lives in Government Code sections 12900 through 12999.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12900 – General Provisions

Who the Law Covers

For discrimination claims, FEHA applies to any employer that regularly employs five or more people. That includes private companies, state and local government agencies, and labor organizations.2California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12926 – Definitions Religious associations not organized for private profit are exempt from the employer definition. The statute uses the phrase “regularly employing” without defining whether part-time or temporary workers count toward the five, so the safer reading treats every worker on the payroll as counting.

Harassment is different. FEHA’s anti-harassment rules apply to every employer, including a workplace of one. They also cover unpaid interns, volunteers, and independent contractors.3Civil Rights Department. California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment A two-person startup has no obligation to avoid discriminatory hiring, but it has every obligation to maintain a harassment-free workplace.

In housing, FEHA governs property owners, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and anyone else involved in selling, renting, or financing a home. The five-employee threshold does not apply to housing.

Protected Characteristics

Under the employment provisions of Government Code section 12940, FEHA protects people from discrimination based on:4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12940 – Unlawful Practices

  • Race, color, national origin, and ancestry
  • Religious creed, including religious dress and grooming practices
  • Physical or mental disability
  • Medical condition and genetic information
  • Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression, including pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions
  • Sexual orientation
  • Marital status
  • Age 40 and over5Civil Rights Department. Employment
  • Military or veteran status
  • Reproductive health decisionmaking, added in 2023, covering choices about contraception, fertility treatments, and related medical services6Civil Rights Department. Explanatory Statement – Changes to FEHA Regulations

The age protection runs one direction: it covers people 40 and older. Someone denied a promotion at 38 in favor of a 25-year-old cannot bring an age claim under FEHA, though a different protected category might apply.

What FEHA Prohibits

FEHA violations fall into three categories, and the evidence that proves each one looks different.

Discrimination

Discrimination means treating someone differently because of a protected characteristic. In employment, that covers the whole working relationship: refusing to hire, demoting, firing, paying less, denying training, or imposing worse working conditions. In housing, it covers refusing to rent or sell, offering different lease terms, and steering buyers toward particular neighborhoods based on race or another protected trait.

Harassment

Harassment turns on the environment itself becoming hostile or abusive. It includes a supervisor conditioning job benefits on sexual favors, and it also covers patterns of slurs, offensive jokes, or intimidation severe or frequent enough to interfere with someone’s ability to do their job. California courts have held that a single incident can be enough if it is severe enough. A landlord making unwanted sexual advances or using intimidation to push a tenant out can also face harassment liability.

Retaliation

Retaliation is punishing someone for asserting their rights. Filing a complaint, cooperating with an investigation, and even informally objecting to discriminatory behavior are all protected. An employer who cuts your hours after you report bias to HR, or a landlord who threatens eviction after you contact the Civil Rights Department, is retaliating regardless of whether the underlying discrimination claim ultimately succeeds.4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12940 – Unlawful Practices

Accommodations the Law Requires

FEHA does more than prohibit negative treatment. It requires employers to take affirmative steps to accommodate disabilities, medical conditions, religious practices, and pregnancy.

Disability

Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for a known physical or mental disability unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the business. Just as important, the employer must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with the employee to figure out what would work. Skipping that conversation is itself a violation, even if the employer later claims no accommodation was available.

Accommodations can take many forms: modified schedules, ergonomic equipment, reassignment to a vacant position, additional breaks, or remote work. The question is whether the accommodation lets the employee perform the essential functions of the job without excessive cost or disruption to the employer.

Religion

Employers must also accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, and observances, including dress and grooming requirements. The employer can refuse only if the accommodation would create a substantial burden in the overall context of the business. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the standard for proving undue hardship is higher than the old “more than a minimal cost” test, and employers must explore alternatives before denying a request outright.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

FEHA provides up to four months of pregnancy disability leave (PDL) for employees whose employers have five or more workers. The leave can be taken all at once or broken into smaller blocks.7Civil Rights Department. PDL Baby Bonding An employee returning from PDL must be reinstated to the same or a comparable position, and employers must continue group health benefits during the leave if they normally provide them. PDL runs concurrently with federal FMLA leave when both apply, so the total available time off depends on the specific situation.

Limits on Criminal History Questions

The Fair Chance Act, enforced under FEHA, restricts when employers with five or more employees can ask about an applicant’s criminal history. An employer cannot inquire about convictions before making a conditional job offer.8Civil Rights Department. Fair Chance Act After the conditional offer, the employer may run a background check, but if the results would prompt a potential withdrawal of the offer, the employer must conduct an individualized assessment weighing the nature of the offense, how much time has passed, and the specific duties of the job. The applicant must receive written notice and an opportunity to respond before a final decision.

Deadlines to Act

Missing a deadline is the fastest way to lose a FEHA claim no matter how strong the evidence. For employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, you must file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) within three years of the discriminatory act.9California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12960 – Filing Complaints For certain civil rights violations involving public accommodations, the deadline is one year.

The three-year clock can be extended in narrow situations. If you didn’t learn about the discriminatory act until after the deadline passed, you may get up to 90 additional days from the date of discovery. Minors get an extension of up to one year from reaching age 18. These extensions are limited, so filing promptly is always safer.

If you bypass the CRD investigation and request an immediate right-to-sue notice instead, you then have one year from the date on the notice to file a lawsuit in California Superior Court.10Cornell Law Institute. 2 CCR 10005 – Obtaining a Right-to-Sue Notice from the Department That one-year window is firm, and courts will dismiss cases filed even a day late.

How To File a Complaint

You do not need a lawyer to start. The CRD accepts complaints through its online California Civil Rights System (CCRS) portal, which is the fastest route, and also by mailed paper intake form.11Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process Filing is free.

At the time of filing, you choose a path. You can ask CRD to investigate, or you can request an immediate right-to-sue notice and handle the case yourself in court.12Civil Rights Department. Obtain a Right to Sue Once CRD issues a right-to-sue notice on a complaint, the department will not investigate it. There is no going back, so think carefully before requesting one. If you don’t already have a lawyer and a strong evidence file, letting CRD investigate first is usually the more practical option.

If CRD investigates, the department reviews the evidence, interviews the parties, and may contact witnesses. At the end, CRD either finds no violation and issues you a right-to-sue notice, finds merit and takes the case itself, or finds merit but declines to intervene and issues you a right-to-sue notice to proceed on your own.

What You Can Recover

FEHA provides a wide range of remedies when discrimination, harassment, or retaliation is proven. In employment cases, available relief includes:13Civil Rights Department. Employment Remedies

  • Back pay, meaning lost wages and benefits from the date of the violation through the resolution of the case
  • Front pay, meaning future lost earnings when reinstatement is not feasible
  • Hiring, reinstatement, or promotion to the position you would have held
  • Out-of-pocket expenses directly caused by the discrimination, such as job search costs or medical bills
  • Emotional distress damages for anxiety, humiliation, and other psychological harm
  • Punitive damages in cases of intentional misconduct
  • Attorney’s fees and costs if you prevail
  • Court-ordered policy changes and training

One of FEHA’s biggest advantages over federal law is that it imposes no cap on compensatory or punitive damages. Under federal Title VII, combined compensatory and punitive damages are capped between $50,000 and $300,000 depending on the employer’s size. FEHA has no such limit, which means recoveries in severe cases can be substantially larger in state court. If you have a choice between filing under FEHA and filing under federal law, the potential damages are one of the biggest factors to weigh. Attorneys who handle employment discrimination cases often work on contingency, taking a percentage of any recovery, which makes it possible to pursue a claim without paying legal fees upfront.