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Workplace harassment in California

California law protects you from workplace harassment tied to a protected trait, such as race, religion, disability, or sex. Harassment protections apply at all employers, regardless of size. This overview helps you find the right topic guide and keep useful records without deciding whether your experience breaks the law.

Legal language, translated

Law language in everyday words

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  • Source: Government Code section 12940
  • Source: Government Code section 12923

What California law protects

FEHA, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, is California's main anti-discrimination law. Its harassment rules cover employees, applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers, and contractors. Harassment can involve words, images, gestures, or physical conduct tied to a protected trait.

The conduct must be severe or pervasive. Under California law, a single serious incident can be enough, and the question is whether a reasonable person would find that the harassment made the job harder to do. Sexual harassment can also involve conditioning a job benefit on accepting sexual conduct. You do not need to decide the legal label before writing down what happened.

  • Government Code section 12940 prohibits harassment based on protected traits and requires reasonable steps to prevent it. Source: Government Code section 12940
  • 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. Government Code section 12940(h) prohibits this retaliation. Source: Government Code section 12926

Guides by type

These guides explain protected traits. Harassment and discrimination can overlap, but the legal questions may differ. Start with the trait involved, or read about a hostile work environment for more detail about conduct and context.

What it can look like

These situations may be worth reviewing. The words used, their connection to a protected trait, and the full setting matter.

  • You hear racial slurs during team meetings, and coworkers send similar messages in the work chat.
  • Your supervisor offers you a better schedule if you agree to sexual contact.
  • You face repeated insults about your disability while trying to complete your regular work.
  • Your coworkers mock your religious clothing and leave insulting pictures at your desk.
  • You receive unwanted sexual messages from a customer, tell your manager, and the messages continue.
  • You hear repeated degrading remarks about gay people even though the speaker does not address you directly.

What usually is not covered

Workplace conflict can be upsetting without meeting FEHA's harassment standard. Context still matters, so keep the actual facts rather than only a label.

  • A rude comment or personal disagreement alone does not establish protected-trait harassment.
  • A fair work assignment or ordinary performance feedback is not harassment merely because you dislike it.
  • Sexual desire is not required for sexual harassment. Do not rule out review just because the speaker calls the conduct a joke.

What to keep a record of

Write a clear timeline while events are fresh. Separate what you personally saw or heard from what someone else told you.

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

  • Keep dates, locations, names, exact words you remember, and names of people who may have witnessed the conduct.
  • Save texts and emails you received, along with your complaints and the responses you received.
  • Keep schedules, reviews, and pay stubs you may lawfully keep, especially if work conditions changed after a report.

Where to file and deadlines

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) handles FEHA workplace complaints. An internal report and an agency complaint are different steps. You can ask CRD about its intake process and whether it can investigate your situation.

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: CRD complaint process
  • 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. If you also want to keep federal rights, the EEOC deadline for California workers is generally 300 days from the discrimination. Source: Government Code section 12965
  • 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: EEOC time limits
See where to file

Step by step

Where to file: two paths

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

Choose a step to read more.

Do you want CRD to investigate, or to go to court?

CRD investigation path

Immediate right-to-sue path

Read this as text
  1. Write down what happened. Write dates, exact words, and witness names. Keep messages, complaints, and responses that you may keep. Source: CRD complaint process
  2. Submit a CRD intake form. For employment complaints, you must submit an intake form to CRD within 3 years of the unlawful act. Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon. Source: CRD complaint process
  3. CRD interview and review. Submitting the intake form starts an intake interview with a CRD representative. CRD reviews the allegations to decide whether it can accept a formal complaint for investigation. Source: CRD complaint process

Do you want CRD to investigate, or to go to court?

CRD investigation path

  1. CRD investigation. If CRD accepts the complaint, it prepares a complaint form for your signature. CRD independently reviews the facts and information from both sides; acceptance does not mean a violation has been found. Source: CRD complaint process
  2. Possible dispute resolution. CRD may try to resolve the dispute in appropriate cases. This is a possible part of the process, not a promised result. Source: CRD complaint process
  3. If CRD closes your case. CRD sends a Notice of Case Closure that tells you your deadline to file a lawsuit. You generally have 1 year from the date of a right-to-sue notice. Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon. Source: CRD complaint process Source: Government Code 12965

Immediate right-to-sue path

  1. Request a right-to-sue notice. You can request an immediate right-to-sue notice instead of using CRD’s investigation process. In employment cases, you need a right-to-sue notice from CRD before filing your own lawsuit. Source: CRD complaint process
  2. Review the lawsuit deadline. 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. Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon. Source: Government Code section 12965

Compare

Compare the situations

Small changes in the facts can change the questions to review. Consider the full setting.

A story to think it through

A workplace example

Illustrative example. Not a real case or person.

Sofia. Server at a restaurant in Santa Monica

What happened

  1. First shift

    Sofia receives unwanted sexual messages from a customer.

Point 1 of 4

What the law looks at

Is the conduct tied to a protected trait?
The law looks at the words or conduct and their connection to a protected trait.
How serious is it, and what is the context?
A single serious incident can be enough. The whole situation and the reasonable person standard matter.
What did the employer know and do?
Who acted, what management knew, and its response can affect the review.

What Sofia could do next

  • Keep dates, exact words, witnesses, messages you received, and your complaints and responses. Do not take confidential records you are not allowed to keep.
  • For employment complaints, you must submit an intake form to CRD within 3 years of the unlawful act. Deadlines can depend on your facts, so talk to a lawyer soon. Source: CRD complaint process

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

Can a small workplace have unlawful harassment?

Yes. CRD says FEHA's harassment rules apply at all employers, regardless of size. The size rule for discrimination is different, so describe the conduct rather than assuming the same rule covers every issue.

Does harassment have to be sexual?

No. Harassment can be tied to race, religion, disability, and other protected traits. Sexual harassment is part of the broader protection, and it does not have to be motivated by sexual desire.

Can a customer be the harasser?

Yes, a customer can be involved. CRD explains that an employer may be responsible if it knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt, appropriate corrective action.

What if the comments were not directed at me?

CRD explains that sexual harassment can affect you even when the conduct is not aimed directly at you. Write down what you experienced and how it affected your work setting.

Should I wait to collect every record before asking about filing?

You can ask CRD about intake while organizing your records. Do not assume a workplace investigation pauses the filing process. A lawyer can review the timing and your particular facts.

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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