The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, known as FEHA, is the state’s primary anti-discrimination law for the workplace and for housing. It protects a longer list of characteristics than federal laws like Title VII and the Fair Housing Act, and its employment rules reach smaller businesses — those with as few as five workers. If you live or work in California, FEHA is usually the law behind a discrimination or harassment claim you could bring.
Who FEHA Covers
Employers
FEHA’s employment protections apply to all public and private employers, labor organizations, apprenticeship programs, employment agencies, and licensing boards with five or more employees. Part-time workers count toward that threshold.1California Civil Rights Department. Employment
The harassment rules are broader. Every California workplace is covered, even one with a single employee or independent contractor. So an employer with three workers can legally decline to hire someone for a discriminatory reason (because the five-employee threshold isn’t met for discrimination claims), but that same employer cannot allow harassment based on a protected characteristic.1California Civil Rights Department. Employment
Two groups are not treated as employers under FEHA: the federal government, and nonprofit religious associations or corporations.1California Civil Rights Department. Employment
Housing Providers
FEHA reaches nearly every person or entity involved in a housing transaction. Landlords, homeowners, apartment managers, real estate brokers, mortgage lenders, appraisers, tenant screening companies, homeowner associations, housing authorities, and short-term rental owners all fall within its scope.2California Civil Rights Department. Housing Discrimination There is no minimum unit count. A landlord renting out a single property must comply.
One narrow exemption applies: an owner-occupied single-family home where the owner rents to no more than one roomer or boarder. Even then, the owner cannot make discriminatory statements or publish discriminatory ads. The exemption covers the rental decision, not public conduct.3Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 2, Section 12052 – Qualifying for Exemption Housing operated by religious organizations or private clubs limiting occupancy to members may also qualify for an exemption from certain provisions.
Characteristics FEHA Protects
The protected categories for employment and housing overlap heavily, but they aren’t identical.
In the workplace, FEHA bars discrimination and harassment based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, gender identity, and gender expression), age (40 and over), sexual orientation, marital status, reproductive health decision-making, and veteran or military status.4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12926
Reproductive health decision-making is one of the newer additions. It covers choices about using a particular drug, device, or medical service for reproductive health, so an employer who penalizes you for using contraception or undergoing fertility treatment is violating FEHA.4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12926
The housing list is similar but swaps a few categories. It adds familial status (so a landlord cannot refuse to rent to families with children) and source of income, which includes housing vouchers such as Section 8. Housing law does not separately list age or reproductive health decision-making.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12955
In both settings, protection extends beyond your actual status. An employer or housing provider who treats you worse because they perceive you as having a protected characteristic, or because you associate with someone who does, has still violated FEHA.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12955
What Employers Cannot Do
Discriminate in Any Term of Employment
A protected characteristic cannot drive decisions about hiring, firing, promotions, pay, job assignments, or any other term of the employment relationship. The rule applies at every stage, from the language in a job posting to how severance is offered at the end.
Allow Harassment
Harassment is unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that is severe enough or frequent enough to alter your working conditions. A single incident can qualify if it is sufficiently extreme. Employers are automatically responsible for harassment by supervisors; they are responsible for harassment by coworkers or third parties when they knew or should have known and failed to act.
Refuse Reasonable Accommodations
Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for known physical or mental disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless the accommodation would cause genuine hardship to the business. California also requires an interactive process: once the employer learns an employee may need an accommodation, whether through a direct request, a doctor’s note, or a supervisor’s own observation, the employer must open a good-faith conversation about options.6California Civil Rights Department. Reasonable Accommodation
Failing to engage in that interactive process is itself a FEHA violation, separate from any failure to actually provide the accommodation. Even an employer who eventually grants an accommodation can be liable for waiting too long or refusing to talk about options.6California Civil Rights Department. Reasonable Accommodation
Retaliate
FEHA bars employers from punishing anyone who opposes a discriminatory practice, files a complaint, or participates in an investigation. A retaliation claim does not require you to prove the underlying discrimination actually happened. You only need to show a reasonable, good-faith belief that it did and that you suffered an adverse action for raising it.
What Housing Providers Cannot Do
Discriminate in Rentals, Sales, and Terms
A housing provider cannot refuse to sell, rent, or lease based on a protected characteristic. Subtler forms matter just as much: charging a higher security deposit, imposing stricter lease terms, claiming a unit is unavailable when it isn’t, or steering applicants toward certain neighborhoods or buildings all violate the law.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12955
Advertising a discriminatory preference is also prohibited. A listing that says “no Section 8” or “ideal for young professionals” can create liability regardless of whether the provider actually rejects anyone.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12955
Reject Section 8 or Other Vouchers
California specifically prohibits housing providers from rejecting applicants because they pay rent using a government housing subsidy, including Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.7California Civil Rights Department. Fair Housing and Source of Income
When a landlord uses an income threshold such as three times the rent, the calculation must be based on the tenant’s portion of the rent, not the total. If the full rent is $2,500 but the voucher covers all but $500, the landlord can only require income of $1,500 (three times the $500 tenant share), not $7,500.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12955
Deny Disability Accommodations
Housing providers must make reasonable accommodations in their rules and policies for tenants with disabilities. The most common example is allowing a service animal or emotional support animal in a building with a no-pets policy.2California Civil Rights Department. Housing Discrimination If the disability or the need for the animal isn’t obvious, the provider can ask for documentation, but the rules on what counts are strict and the provider cannot deny a request outright without giving the tenant a chance to provide more information.8California Civil Rights Department. Emotional Support Animals and Fair Housing Law
How to File a FEHA Complaint
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD), renamed from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing in 2022, investigates and enforces FEHA.9CA.gov. Civil Rights Department (CRD)
Deadlines are the first thing to get right. For employment discrimination and harassment claims, you must file an intake form with the CRD within three years of the date you were last harmed. For housing discrimination and most other FEHA claims, the window is one year from the last discriminatory act.10California Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process
You start by submitting a pre-complaint inquiry through the CRD’s website or by calling 800-884-1684. Gather specifics before you begin: dates, names of the people involved, what happened, and any evidence you have.9CA.gov. Civil Rights Department (CRD) Once your complaint is accepted, the CRD may investigate, offer voluntary mediation, or in some cases prosecute the claim on your behalf. Filing with the CRD is generally required before you can take your case to court, a step called exhausting your administrative remedies.
If the CRD chooses not to pursue your case, it will issue a Right-to-Sue notice. You then have one year from the date of that notice to file a civil lawsuit in superior court. If a federal right-to-sue period is also running, you get whichever deadline expires later.
What You Can Recover
A successful FEHA claim can produce several forms of relief. In employment cases, available remedies include reinstatement or hiring, back pay, and actual damages for emotional distress.11California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12970 Civil lawsuits can also yield compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney’s fees. Housing remedies follow a similar pattern: the provider may be ordered to rent the unit, change its policies, pay damages, and cover the complainant’s legal costs.