Employment Discrimination Attorneys in California

Unfair treatment at work? Recover financial compensation from your employer.

Workplace discrimination can affect your pay, your career opportunities, and your professional reputation. Whether you were denied a promotion, terminated, harassed, refused reasonable accommodation, or retaliated against for reporting misconduct, California and federal law provide strong protections for employees and applicants.

Proving discrimination can be complex. Employers often claim that adverse decisions were based on performance, restructuring, or other "legitimate" reasons. Our employment discrimination attorneys evaluate the facts, preserve evidence, and pursue the compensation you may be legally entitled to — including lost wages, emotional distress damages, and other remedies available under state and federal law.

What Is Workplace Discrimination?

Workplace discrimination refers to unequal or unfair treatment of workers due to protected characteristics, such as race, sex, age, religion or disability. Discrimination at work is not always obvious and sometimes appears through patterns of behavior instead of overt acts. Employees may be treated differently, excluded, or penalized in subtle ways that are difficult to identify without legal guidance.

Workplace discrimination may include:

• Unfair treatment, such as unequal pay, denied training opportunities and more
• Workplace harassment based on protected characteristics
• Denial of reasonable accommodations for disability or religion
• Improper questions or disclosure of medical or genetic information
• Retaliation against you for submitting a complaint or starting proceedings related to job discrimination

You may be experiencing workplace discrimination if:

• You are treated differently than similarly situated coworkers without a legitimate reason
• You are subjected to harassment, including derogatory comments, slurs, or offensive jokes
• You are excluded from meetings, projects, or advancement opportunities
• Workplace rules or policies are applied inconsistently to you
• You face discipline that appears disproportionate compared to others
• Promotions, pay increases, or desirable assignments consistently favor employees outside your protected group
• A workplace policy disproportionately harms a protected group (disparate impact)
• Your employer refuses to provide reasonable accommodation for disability, pregnancy, or religious practices

Protected Characteristics Under Federal and California Law

Employment discrimination laws protect workers from unfair treatment based on certain legally protected characteristics.

Under federal law, employers may not discriminate based on:

• Race or color
• Sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity)
• Religion
• National origin
• Age (40 or older)
• Disability
• Genetic information

California law provides even broader protections. In addition to the categories above, California protects employees from discrimination based on:

• Ancestry
• Marital status
• Medical condition
• Military or veteran status
• Gender expression
• Reproductive health decision-making
• And other protected characteristics recognized under state law

Importantly, you do not need to actually possess a protected characteristic for the law to apply. If an employer perceives that you belong to a protected group and treats you unfairly based on that assumption, that may still constitute unlawful discrimination.

Discrimination Can Happen At Any Stage of Employment

Discrimination does not only occur at termination. It can arise at any point in the employment relationship. Antidiscrimination laws apply to nearly every aspect of employment, including:

• Hiring and recruitment
• Compensation, benefits, and promotions
• Job assignments and responsibilities
• Discipline and performance evaluations
• Termination, layoffs, or demotions
• Requests for reasonable accommodation (disability, pregnancy, religion)
• Retaliation for reporting or opposing discrimination

Most private employers, government agencies, unions, staffing agencies, and educational institutions are covered by these laws.

Types of Discrimination Claims We Handle

Discriminatory termination – Workers may get fired after announcing a pregnancy, requesting reasonable accommodation or returning from medical leave. Discrimination can also occur when older or disabled workers are disproportionately targeted for layoffs. In many cases, employers attempt to justify discriminatory terminations by citing alleged performance issues or policy violations.

Failure to hire or promote – Qualified workers may be passed over for hiring or promotions due to biases based on gender, race, age, disability or other characteristics. Discriminatory practices may include unequal standards or use of criteria that unfairly exclude certain job applicants and employees.

Hostile work environment – Employees may be subjected to intimidating, offensive, or abusive conduct by supervisors or coworkers based on protected characteristics. This may include racist jokes or slurs, sexually suggestive behavior, unwanted physical contact, mockery, intimidation, or repeated actions that interfere with an employee's ability to perform their job, such as undermining or sabotaging work responsibilities.

Failure to provide reasonable accommodations – Employers sometimes fail to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, pregnancy-related conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, often by improperly claiming that these accommodations create "undue hardship." Reasonable accommodations include disability aids, bathroom breaks, flexible schedule, and time off for medical appointments or religious observances.

Retaliation for protected activity – Employers may unlawfully retaliate against employees for exercising their rights under antidiscrimination laws. Protected activities include filing or participating in a discrimination or harassment complaint, serving as a witness in a legal or internal investigation, opposing discriminatory practices, or requesting or discussing wage information to identify discriminatory pay practices. Retaliation may take the form of termination, demotion, discipline, reduced hours, or other adverse employment actions.

Discrimination during layoffs or restructuring – Layoff or firing practices may be illegal if they disproportionately affect certain workers based on protected characteristics, such as age or disability. Even fairly neutral criteria may be considered discriminatory if they result in firing primarily workers with protected characteristics during reductions or restructuring.

Recovering Compensation for Workplace Discrimination

In California employment discrimination cases, employees who prevail in employment discrimination cases may be entitled to recover:

• Back pay (past lost earnings)
• Front pay (future lost earnings)
• Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses
• Emotional distress damages
• Punitive damages (in some serious cases)
• Attorneys' fees and costs

Courts may also order non-monetary remedies, such as reinstatement, hiring, promotion, policy changes, workplace training, or the provision of reasonable accommodations.

In cases brought under Title VII (a federal law), combined compensatory and punitive damages are subject to statutory caps based on employer size:

• $50,000 for employers with 15-100 employees
• $100,000 for employers with 101-200 employees
• $200,000 for employers with 201-500 employees
• $300,000 for employers with more than 500 employees

These statutory caps do not apply to claims brought under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

How Our Attorneys Overcome Employer Defenses

Employers frequently argue that termination, discipline, or demotion occurred for "legitimate business reasons," such as performance concerns, attendance issues, restructuring, or policy violations. They may also claim that requested accommodations created an undue hardship or that workplace conduct did not rise to the level of unlawful discrimination.

Our attorneys evaluate whether the employer's explanation is consistent, documented, and applied equally to similarly situated employees. We examine:

• The timing of adverse actions
• Performance reviews before and after complaints or protected disclosures
• Comparator evidence involving other employees
• Inconsistencies between company policy and actual conduct
• Internal communications and decision-making records

Where an employer's stated reason is a pretext for discrimination, we build the evidence necessary to challenge that defense through investigation, administrative proceedings, and litigation when necessary.

Employment Discrimination: Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if I suspect discrimination?

Employees who believe they are experiencing workplace discrimination should consider the following steps:

• Document incidents of discrimination, including dates, witnesses, and details of unfair treatment, harassment, exclusion or denial of reasonable accommodations
• Preserve emails, text messages, performance reviews, and communications with supervisors, co-workers or human resources
• Avoid resigning before speaking with an employment attorney
• Consult an employment discrimination lawyer as soon as possible

Our employment discrimination attorneys can help you evaluate your case, gather evidence, file with the appropriate enforcement office, and, if necessary, pursue a lawsuit after obtaining a Right-to-Sue notice. A confidential consultation can help you understand your legal rights, potential claims, and possible recovery.

Do I have to file with the CRD or EEOC before filing a lawsuit?

For most federal and California discrimination claims, you must first file an administrative complaint with the CRD or EEOC before filing a lawsuit. After filing, you may receive a "right-to-sue" notice, which allows you to proceed in court. An attorney can prepare and file the complaint to ensure it accurately reflects your claims and preserves your rights.

How long do I have to file a discrimination claim?

Employees generally have three years from the date of the alleged discrimination to file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). Federal filing deadlines may be shorter. In many cases, employees in California have up to 300 days to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because California has its own state enforcement agency. The sooner you file with the CRD or EEOC, the better. Once you receive a Right-to-Sue notice, federal claims generally must be filed within 90 days, while California claims typically must be filed within one year. Missing these deadlines can prevent you from pursuing your claim. Because these deadlines can vary depending on the type of claim and the specific facts involved, it is important to speak with an employment attorney as soon as possible.

What if my employer says they had a legitimate reason to fire me?

Employers frequently claim that termination was based on legitimate business reasons. They may cite budget reductions, restructuring, layoffs, performance concerns, attendance issues, policy violations, or alleged misconduct. Having a stated reason, however, does not automatically defeat a discrimination claim. Courts examine whether the employer's explanation was genuine or a pretext for unlawful discrimination. A court may scrutinize the employer's justification if, for example: the termination or discipline occurred shortly after you reported discrimination, disclosed a pregnancy or disability, or requested reasonable accommodation; the employer provided inconsistent or changing explanations for the decision; similarly situated employees outside your protected group were treated more favorably for comparable conduct. To evaluate whether a termination was lawful, our attorneys review company policies, performance evaluations, written warnings, internal communications, and the timing of events surrounding your complaint or protected activity. A consultation can help determine whether the employer's stated reason is legally defensible or whether further investigation is warranted.

Can I be fired for complaining about discrimination?

An employer cannot retaliate against you for reporting discrimination or taking part in protected activity generally. The law prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who participate in investigations, request reasonable accommodations or oppose an unlawful workplace practice. Employer retaliation can include firing you, demoting you, reducing your work hours or taking disciplinary action in response to you exercising your rights. However, it is not illegal for employers to take these actions for reasons unrelated to your antidiscrimination complaint. Whether an action counts as retaliation is determined by the court. If you were fired or disciplined shortly after reporting discrimination, an employment attorney can evaluate whether retaliation may have occurred.

Speak To A Workplace Discrimination Attorney Today

Discrimination claims are subject to strict filing deadlines. Waiting too long can limit or eliminate your ability to pursue legal action. If you have questions about your rights, your employer's actions, or the next steps in the process, we are available to help. Your consultation is free and confidential.