Wear Trial Law represents employees discriminated against in hiring, pay, promotion, discipline, and termination. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act protects more characteristics than federal law, applies to smaller employers, and provides remedies that federal law does not — including uncapped compensatory damages and mandatory attorney’s fees for a prevailing employee.

California protects more than federal law does

FEHA prohibits discrimination on the basis of a broad list of protected characteristics, and it reaches employers with as few as five employees for most claims — and, for harassment, employers with even one. Many employees are told they have no claim because the employer is small. Frequently that is wrong.

FEHA also has no statutory cap on compensatory and punitive damages, unlike the federal scheme, and it requires an award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing employee.

How discrimination actually shows up

Rarely as an explicit statement. More often as a pattern:

  • Different standards applied to different people for the same conduct
  • Exclusion from meetings, projects, mentorship, or client contact
  • Being passed over while less qualified colleagues advance
  • Sudden performance criticism after a protected characteristic becomes known — a pregnancy disclosed, a disability accommodation requested, a religious observance raised
  • Scrutiny that does not apply to peers
  • Comments dismissed as jokes

Failure to accommodate

Two of the most frequently violated obligations in California workplaces:

Disability accommodation. Employers must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations. The failure to engage in that process is an independent violation, separate from any failure to actually accommodate — which many employers do not realize and many employees never learn.

Religious accommodation. Employers must reasonably accommodate religious belief and observance absent undue hardship.

The administrative step, and the deadline

Before filing suit, you generally must file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department and obtain a right-to-sue notice. There is a deadline to file with the agency, and a separate, shorter deadline to file suit after the notice issues.

Missing either bars the claim. Because the second deadline is the shorter one and starts running on issuance, employees who request an immediate right-to-sue and then wait are at particular risk.

What to preserve

Performance reviews across your whole tenure, not just recent ones. Pay and promotion records, including comparators. Communications reflecting differential treatment. Your accommodation request and the employer’s response. Notes with dates. The handbook policy the employer departed from.

Call 415-233-9688. Please share only general details until a conflict check is complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

Often yes. FEHA reaches much smaller employers than federal law.

Most cases are proven circumstantially through patterns and comparators.

Failing to engage in the interactive process is itself a violation.

Generally yes, and the deadlines are strict.

FEHA provides for fees to a prevailing employee.

Request a Free, Confidential Consultation

You Are Not Alone. Speak directly with Michael Wear in a free, confidential consultation.

Talk to Us

Prefer to reach out in writing?

fill this confidential form
Data Consent

Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not include confidential details until we have confirmed there is no conflict.

Important Notice: Please do not send confidential, proprietary, or time-sensitive information through this form. Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and information sent prior to a formal written engagement agreement may not be treated as privileged or confidential.