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The Fair Employment and Housing Act

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code § 12900-12996) bans employment, and housing discrimination, as described below.

The FEHA also incorporates the Unruh Act (Civ. Code § 51), which protects against public accommodations discrimination and the Ralph Act (Civ. Code § 51.7), which protects against hate violence.

Employment:
  • The FEHA bans employment discrimination on the bases of age (40 and over), ancestry, color, religious creed, disability (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS, marital status, medical condition (cancer and genetic characteristics), national origin, race, sex, and sexual orientation. The FEHA covers California employers with five or more employees. Only one employee is needed for a sexual harassment claim.
Job-Protected Leaves:
  • The FEHA provides a job-protected leave for pregnancy disability (Gov. Code § 12945) for a period of up to four months, tied to the woman's disability, as certified by her medical provider. There is no eligibility period to take a pregnancy disability leave.
  • The FEHA also provides a leave of up to 12 week for family and medical reasons (the California Family Rights Act, Gov. Code § 12945.1 and 12945.2 (CFRA)). To take a CFRA leave, an employee must work for an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the employee's workplace, the employee must have worked for the employer for at least one year, and the employee must have worked 1,250 hours in the past year.
Housing:
  • The FEHA bans housing discrimination on the bases of ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS, familial status, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and source of income.
The Unruh Civil Rights Act:
The Ralph Civil Rights Act:
  • The Ralph Civil Rights Act protects all persons from violence and intimidation by threats of violence based on their age, ancestry, color, disability, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or position in a labor dispute. (Civ. Code § 51.7.)