California (CA) Job Discrimination Law in the Workplace

September 9th, 2006 Posted by Rachel

It is good to know that if you are an employee in the state of California that you are protected in the workplace from harassment and/or discrimination. In fact, California boasts that they have the largest state civil rights agency in the country.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing, or DFEH maintains the authority to investigate complaints of discrimination in the workplace. Individuals that have questions or employment complaints should contact them for information. In 1980, DFEH was established as an independent department charged with enforcing California’s comprehensive employment, housing, public accommodations and public service non-discrimination laws, as well as the State’s bias-related hate violence law.

California (CA) job discrimination law in the workplace provides protection from harassment or discrimination in employment because of Age (40 and over), ancestry, color, religious creed, disability, both mental and physical including HIV and AIDS, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and denial of family and medical care leave. Harassment because of sex includes sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Sexual harassment can be defined as unwanted sexual advances, or visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors, making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances, visual conduct, displaying of suggestive objects or pictures, making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, and jokes, verbal sexual advances or propositions, verbal abuse of a sexual nature, graphic verbal commentaries about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words used to describe an individual, suggestive or obscene letters, notes or invitations, Physical conduct such as touching, assault, impeding or blocking movements are all considered violations of the law and violators will be dealt with and punished harshly.

In my research I found that California (CA) job discrimination law in the workplace has one very unique law I thought you might find interesting. It says that employers may not refuse to allow employees to wear pants on the basis of sex unless the employer has a good cause exemption such as requiring uniforms or that specific costumes are worn.

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Posted in California, Discrimination, Employment Laws, Hostile Environment

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