Disability discrimination in California

California law may protect you when an employer treats you worse because of a physical disability, mental disability, or protected medical condition. Protection can also apply when an employer wrongly believes you have a disability. Changes that help you do your job are covered in the separate accommodation guide.

Legal language, translated

The rules in everyday words

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What the law saysWhat it means

Disability protections include actual or perceived disability.Summary of the law
You may be protected even if your manager is wrong about your condition.
Source: CRD disability accommodations
Under FEHA, medical condition means a health problem related to cancer, a record or history of cancer, or genetic characteristics.Summary of the law
This term does not mean every illness. Other illnesses may qualify as disabilities.
Source: Government Code section 12926

What California law protects

FEHA, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, is California's main anti-discrimination law. It protects employees and job applicants from disability-based decisions about hiring, pay, training, promotion, and firing. Government Code section 12940(h) prohibits retaliation.

California uses a broad disability standard. A physical or mental condition must limit a major life activity, such as walking, thinking, concentrating, or working. It does not have to substantially limit that activity as federal law requires. Medication or other measures that help you manage the condition generally do not remove protection.

FEHA's discrimination rules cover employers that regularly employ 5 or more people. Harassment rules cover employers with 1 or more employees. Retaliation for opposing discrimination or harassment, or for taking part in a complaint, is also prohibited. Source: Official guidance
Medical condition has a specific meaning here: cancer, a record or history of cancer, or genetic characteristics. It does not mean every illness. Other illnesses may qualify under the physical or mental disability protections. Source: CRD workplace rights poster
Protection includes actual or perceived disability. A condition may be covered even if it is temporary, happens only sometimes, or is in remission. Source: CRD disability accommodations

What it can look like

These situations may be worth reviewing. The reason for the decision, your ability to do the job with accommodation, and the surrounding facts matter.

You tell your supervisor about your cancer history. Even though your work has not changed, your supervisor removes you from a promotion list because you might get sick again.
You have depression and meet the job's requirements. After learning about it, your manager takes away customer assignments because people with mental health conditions supposedly cannot be trusted.
You use a wheelchair and apply for an office job. The interviewer dismisses you as unable to work before discussing the job duties or possible changes to the workspace.
You have a temporary back injury. Your supervisor says injured workers are a burden and selects you for dismissal while keeping coworkers who do the same work.
You do not have a disability, but your manager assumes you do after a medical appointment. You lose training opportunities because the manager thinks you cannot handle them.
You report repeated disability-related insults to a supervisor. Instead of addressing your complaint, management cuts your hours and tells you to stop causing trouble.

What usually is not covered

A health issue or an upsetting decision does not by itself establish disability discrimination. Look at the employer's stated reason and what connects the treatment to a protected condition.

A rude manager or an unfair schedule is not automatically disability discrimination. There must be a connection to a protected characteristic or protected activity for these FEHA protections to apply.
Having a diagnosis does not excuse every performance problem. An employer may assess whether you can perform essential functions, the main tasks of the job, with reasonable accommodation.
FEHA does not require hiring or retaining someone who cannot perform essential functions when no reasonable accommodation would enable that work.
The law does not treat every health condition as a disability or protected medical condition. Conditions that do not limit major life activities may fall outside disability coverage.

What to keep a record of

Make a timeline in your own words. Separate what you saw or heard from what someone else told you. Include the reason management gave for a decision, even if you disagree with it.

Do not take confidential company documents that you are not allowed to keep.

Keep dates, names, exact comments you remember, and who witnessed conversations about your condition or your ability to work.
Save texts and emails you received, performance reviews, schedules, pay stubs, and notices about transfers, discipline, or dismissal that you may lawfully keep.
Keep copies of discrimination complaints you made and the responses. Note when you told a supervisor or human resources about the problem.
Keep accommodation requests and medical restriction notes you submitted. Record what you explained about the work you could do and what help you needed.

Where to file and deadlines

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) handles FEHA employment discrimination, harassment, and accommodation complaints. Its intake process asks about what happened and helps the agency decide whether it can investigate. You can ask CRD for disability-related help with the complaint process. Government Code section 12960 addresses the CRD filing deadline.

A Right-to-Sue notice permits a private court action under FEHA. It does not mean the agency found discrimination. Consider talking to an employment lawyer before choosing to skip the agency investigation.

Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon.

For employment complaints, you must submit an intake form to CRD within 3 years of the unlawful act. In limited cases this can be extended, for example up to 90 days when you discovered the facts later, or up to 1 year after you turn 18 if you were a minor. Source: Official guidance
After you receive a right-to-sue notice, you generally have 1 year from the date of the notice to file a lawsuit. That period can be paused in some situations, such as during CRD dispute resolution. Source: Official guidance
If you also want to keep federal rights, the EEOC deadline for California workers is generally 300 days from the discrimination. For California workers, the deadline to file an EEOC charge is generally 300 calendar days, including for age claims, because California has its own law on the same bases. Filing a charge with either the EEOC or CRD generally counts as filing with the other agency. Source: Official guidance

Where to file in California

See where to file

Compare

Compare the situations

Similar events can raise different questions. The reason and the surrounding facts matter.

Usually not against the lawMay be against the law

A story to think it through

A workplace example

Illustrative example. Not a real case or person.

Tomás. Dispatcher at a delivery company in East Los Angeles

What happened

First
Tomás tells his supervisor about his depression.
His record
His reviews show that he meets the job requirements.
Then
His supervisor removes assignments and says people with mental health conditions cannot be trusted.
Afterward
Tomás saves the assignment notice and writes down the comment.

Point 1 of 4

What the law looks at

What condition was involved?: The law looks at whether a physical or mental condition limits a major life activity.
Could Tomás do the main tasks?: The law looks at essential functions and whether accommodation could enable the work.
Why were assignments removed?: The law looks at the stated reason, comments, and facts connecting the decision to disability.

What Tomás could do next

Keep requests, responses, schedules, and your own notes about dates and conversations that you may lawfully keep. Do not take confidential company documents you are not allowed to keep.
For employment complaints, you must submit an intake form to CRD within 3 years of the act you are reporting. Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon. Source: Official guidance

What this story doesn't tell you: how it ends.

Every situation depends on its own facts and records. A lawyer who reviews the details can explain what may apply.

Common questions

Does California protect mental health conditions at work?

It can. FEHA covers mental disabilities that limit a major life activity, including activities such as thinking and concentrating. The condition and the reason for the employer's action matter, not just the name of a diagnosis.

Does my disability have to be permanent?

No. A temporary or recurring condition may qualify under California law if it limits a major life activity. CRD lists back injuries and conditions that occur sometimes among examples that may support accommodation.

What does medical condition mean under FEHA?

It refers to cancer, a record or history of cancer, and genetic characteristics. This is a specific legal category, not a label for every medical issue. A different illness may still qualify as a physical or mental disability.

What if my employer only thinks I have a disability?

FEHA also protects against discrimination based on perceived disability. An employer's mistaken belief can matter even if you do not actually have the condition. Keep a record of comments explaining what the employer believed.

Can my employer say insurance costs justify rejecting me?

CRD says higher insurance rates are not an acceptable excuse for disability discrimination. Speculation about possible future harm is also not enough by itself. Questions about essential duties and safety require attention to the actual job and possible accommodation.

Is asking for an accommodation the same as reporting discrimination?

No. An accommodation request asks for a change that addresses a disability-related work need. A discrimination complaint reports treatment tied to a protected condition. Either situation may raise retaliation concerns if you are treated negatively for exercising protected rights.

Sources

Last reviewed October 28, 2026

This website provides general information about California law and is not legal advice. Information here may not apply to your situation.

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