What Is the Legal Definition of Harassment in California?

The legal definition of harassment in California depends on the setting. The broadest civil definition, found in Code of Civil Procedure Section 527.6, covers three types of conduct: unlawful violence, a credible threat of violence, or a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses them and serves no legitimate purpose.¹ Separate definitions govern criminal stalking, phone and electronic harassment, workplace harassment, and landlord harassment, and each one carries its own legal standard.

Civil Harassment Under Code of Civil Procedure 527.6

Section 527.6 is the statute most Californians encounter first, because it controls who can petition for a civil harassment restraining order. It recognizes three forms of prohibited conduct.

The first is unlawful violence. This includes acts like assault and battery.

The second is a credible threat of violence. The statute defines this as a knowing and willful statement or pattern of conduct that would place a reasonable person in fear for their own safety or the safety of their immediate family, and that serves no legitimate purpose.¹

The third category is where most disputes land. A knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses them, with no legitimate purpose, meets the definition only if it also passes two tests at once. The person targeted must have actually suffered substantial emotional distress, meaning real mental suffering or anxiety rather than mild irritation. And the conduct must be the kind that would cause a reasonable person in the same position to suffer that same level of distress. If either piece is missing, the behavior does not qualify as harassment under this statute.¹

What Counts as a Course of Conduct

A course of conduct is a pattern, not a one-time incident. The statute describes it as a series of acts over any period of time, however short, that shows a continuity of purpose. Common examples include repeatedly following someone, making harassing phone calls, or sending unwanted messages by mail, email, or other means.¹

Constitutionally protected activity is carved out. Picketing, political speech, and similar First Amendment activities cannot form the basis of a harassment claim, even if someone finds them annoying. The behavior must both lack any legitimate purpose and be directed at a specific person. That combination is what separates actionable harassment from ordinary conflict.¹

Who the Civil Definition Covers

Section 527.6 applies only to people you are not closely related to and have not been in an intimate relationship with. Neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, landlords, and more distant relatives like aunts or cousins fall within it. If the person harassing you is a spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, or sibling, the conduct is addressed under the Family Code through a domestic violence restraining order rather than under the civil harassment statute.

Criminal Harassment: Stalking

When harassment becomes severe, it crosses into criminal territory. California’s primary criminal harassment statute is Penal Code Section 646.9, which defines stalking. Three elements must be present. The person willfully and maliciously followed or harassed you on repeated occasions. They made a credible threat. And they intended to place you in reasonable fear for your safety or the safety of your immediate family.²

A credible threat under this statute can be verbal, written, or electronic, and it can also be implied by a pattern of behavior. It must be made with the apparent ability to carry it out. Threats directed at a victim’s pets, service animals, or emotional support animals also count.²

Stalking is a wobbler. Prosecutors can charge it as a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000, or as a felony carrying a state prison sentence. Stalking committed while a restraining order is in effect carries two, three, or four years in state prison. A felony stalking conviction can also result in a court order to register as a sex offender.²

Criminal Threats

Penal Code Section 422 defines criminal threats as a standalone offense. You can be charged if you willfully threaten to kill or cause great bodily injury to someone, intend for the statement to be taken as a threat, and the threat is specific and immediate enough to cause the person sustained fear. The threat can be made verbally, in writing, or electronically. Criminal threats are also a wobbler, with a misdemeanor conviction carrying up to a year in county jail and a felony conviction carrying a state prison sentence.³

Phone and Electronic Harassment

Penal Code Section 653m targets harassment through phones, computers, and other electronic communication devices. The statute contains two separate provisions. The first makes a single call or message enough if the sender uses obscene language or makes threats with intent to annoy. The second covers repeated calls or electronic contacts made with intent to annoy or harass, even if nothing obscene or threatening is said. Both are misdemeanors.⁴

The repeated-contact provision trips up more people than you might expect. It does not require that a conversation actually take place. Calling over and over, or sending a stream of messages that the recipient never responds to, is enough if the intent is to annoy or harass. The statute exempts contacts made in good faith or during the ordinary course of business.⁴

Workplace Harassment Under FEHA

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, codified in Government Code Section 12940, defines harassment very differently. Workplace harassment is unlawful only when the conduct is based on a protected characteristic such as race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Rude or hostile behavior unconnected to a protected characteristic is not actionable under FEHA, no matter how unpleasant it makes the workplace.⁵

For harassment claims specifically, FEHA applies to every employer in California with at least one employee or one independent contractor. That is a lower threshold than the five-employee minimum that applies to discrimination claims under the same law.⁵

The victim does not need to show loss of a promotion, raise, or other tangible job benefit. The statute explicitly says that loss of tangible job benefits is not required to establish harassment. A hostile work environment alone is enough if the conduct is severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would find it abusive.⁵

If a supervisor or manager harasses someone, the employer is automatically liable and the individual supervisor is personally liable as well. When the harasser is a coworker, the employer is liable if management knew or should have known about the behavior and failed to take immediate corrective action. The same rule applies when a nonemployee such as a client or vendor harasses an employee in the workplace.⁵

Landlord Harassment

California Civil Code Section 1940.2 creates its own definition for the landlord-tenant relationship. A landlord commits harassment by engaging in any of the following to pressure a tenant to move out:

Theft of a tenant’s property.
Extortion, meaning using threats to obtain money or other concessions.
Using force, willful threats, or menacing conduct that interferes with a tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the home and would frighten a reasonable person.
Committing a significant and intentional violation of the rules governing when a landlord can enter a rental unit.
Threatening to disclose a tenant’s or occupant’s immigration or citizenship status.

Purpose is the key element. Each of these acts must be done to influence the tenant to vacate. A good-faith warning about a lease violation or a routine explanation of the rental agreement does not qualify. A tenant who proves a violation can recover a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per incident, including through small claims court.⁶

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 527.6
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 646.9
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 422
4
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 653m
5
California Legislative Information. California Government Code Section 12940
6
California Legislative Information. California Civil Code Section 1940.2