Other Discrimination

Michael Trust founded Michael Trust Law, APC after more than 35 years in HR leadership across entertainment, healthcare, higher education, finance, banking, solar energy, and other industries, including managing approximately 35,000 disability and leave-of-absence cases. He holds the SPHR, PHRca, and SHRM-SCP credentials. The PHRca is a California-specific HR credential focused on California employment law and HR practice. According to HRCI’s published pass-rate statistics at https://www.hrci.org/pass-rates, the PHRca has the lowest pass rate of all HRCI credentials — 47% as of December 31, 2025, compared with 71–84% for HRCI’s other certifications — and only 293 candidates worldwide tested for it in 2025. That HR-systems background helps identify HR process issues early, which can shape legal analysis on both sides.

Employee Discrimination

Michael Trust Law, APC represents California employees facing workplace discrimination. We fight for equal treatment, enforce anti‑discrimination laws, and hold employers accountable for unlawful practices.

Other Discrimination

A representative FEHA discrimination claim involves an employee in a protected class — defined by race, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other characteristic — facing an adverse employment action. The McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework typically structures the litigation, with the employer’s articulated legitimate reason and the employee’s pretext evidence becoming the closest questions. Cal. Gov. Code §12926.1(c) confirms that FEHA’s protections are independent of and broader than the federal ADA where disability-related claims are involved.

California Workplace Discrimination — Employee Rights

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination by employers with 5 or more employees on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age (40+), sexual orientation, military and veteran status, and several other protected characteristics (Cal. Gov. Code §12940(a)).

How Discrimination Cases Are Analyzed

Most single-motive FEHA disparate-treatment cases are analyzed under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework: the employee establishes a prima facie case, the employer offers a legitimate non-discriminatory reason, and the employee then has the opportunity to demonstrate that the stated reason is pretext for discrimination. In mixed-motive cases, California applies the “substantial motivating factor” standard from Harris v. City of Santa Monica (2013) 56 Cal.4th 203. FEHA also recognizes disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and failure to engage in the interactive process as distinct claims with their own analytical frameworks (Cal. Gov. Code §12940(m)-(n)).

Background Checks and Your Rights

California law limits what a prospective or current employer can ask about your background, and when. Before making you a conditional offer of employment, an employer generally may not ask about your conviction history or search public records for it (Cal. Gov. Code §12952, the Fair Chance Act). If the employer later intends to rescind an offer based on conviction history, it must conduct an individualized assessment, give you written notice of the specific conviction at issue, and give you an opportunity to respond with corrections or evidence of rehabilitation before making a final decision. Separately, an employer generally cannot consider an arrest that did not lead to conviction, participation in a pretrial or post trial diversion program, or a conviction that has been sealed, dismissed, expunged, or pardoned (Cal. Lab. Code §432.7). Before an employer or a background check company obtains a consumer report about you for employment purposes, federal law requires a standalone written disclosure and your written authorization, and before any adverse action, a copy of the report, a summary of your rights, and a reasonable opportunity to respond (15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.). You should not be required to pay for a required background check: Labor Code sections 401 through 405 require the employer, not you, to bear the cost of any bond or security it requires as a condition of employment, and Labor Code section 2802 requires reimbursement if a current employee is required to pay for a background check as part of the job. Whether a specific background check practice violated these protections is fact-specific and depends on the timing and the process the employer followed.

Racial and Color Harassment

Harassment based on race or color is illegal under both California and federal law. Under FEHA, conduct does not have to reach a certain severity threshold before an employer can be held liable for a supervisor’s harassment; even a single sufficiently severe incident can support a claim. The same conduct is also actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Cal. Gov. Code §12940(j) (FEHA harassment); State Dept. of Health Services v. Superior Court (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1026.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

Title VII is the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It runs alongside FEHA rather than replacing it. Title VII applies only to employers with 15 or more employees and requires filing a charge with the EEOC before suing; FEHA requires a right-to-sue letter from California’s Civil Rights Department and covers employers with as few as five employees. Working with counsel early helps identify which law, or both, applies.

42 U.S.C. §2000e-2 (Title VII); Cal. Gov. Code §12965 (FEHA right-to-sue procedure).

Gender Discrimination

FEHA’s protection against sex discrimination covers gender, gender identity, and gender expression, not just biological sex. That includes discrimination based on a person’s gender identity or expression differing from what is typically associated with their sex assigned at birth, and it includes discriminatory treatment based on sex stereotypes: assumptions about how someone should look, dress, or act based on their gender.

Cal. Gov. Code §12926(r).

When to Contact Us

FEHA claims usually require a Civil Rights Department (CRD) administrative filing before suit, and the deadline matters. Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a 30-minute conversation.

Initial contact does not create an attorney-client relationship — see Disclaimers.

Cal. Gov. Code §12940 et seq. (FEHA); Harris v. City of Santa Monica (2013) 56 Cal.4th 203; Cal. Gov. Code §12952 (Fair Chance Act); Cal. Lab. Code §432.7; 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. (Fair Credit Reporting Act); Cal. Gov. Code §12926.1(c); Cal. Lab. Code §§401–405; Cal. Lab. Code §2802.

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Frequently Asked Questions

FEHA requires employers to engage in an interactive process for religious accommodation and to provide a reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship. A flat refusal without engagement typically does not satisfy the obligation. Document the request and the response.

No. The California Legislature has expressly declared that FEHA’s disability protections are independent of and broader than those provided under the federal ADA (Cal. Gov. Code §12926.1(c)). A request that fails under the federal ADA may still be required under FEHA.

Associational discrimination is recognized under FEHA. Adverse action because of an employee’s relationship with someone in a protected class can be actionable. Such claims are fact-intensive and turn on the connection between the relationship and the adverse decision.

Michael Trust Law, APC helps employees challenge workplace discrimination, recover damages, and enforce equal treatment. Contact Michael Trust Law, APC to discuss your situation.

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