Workplace Discrimination

Characteristics protected under California law

California law prohibits employment decisions — in hiring, pay, promotion, assignments, discipline and termination — based on protected characteristics, including:

• Race, including hair texture & protective hairstyles
• Color
• National origin & ancestry
• Religion, including dress & grooming
• Sex & gender
• Pregnancy, childbirth & breastfeeding →
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity & expression
• Age (40 and over)
• Physical & mental disability →
• Medical condition & genetic information
• Marital status
• Military & veteran status
• Reproductive health decision-making

Matters we handle

• Discriminatory termination, demotion or discipline
• Being passed over for hiring or promotion
• Unequal pay for comparable work
• Failure to accommodate a religious practice — see Failure to Accommodate
• Age-based layoffs and forced retirement
• An employer’s failure to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination
• Harassment based on a protected trait — see Hostile Work Environment & Workplace Harassment

How the firm can help

1. 01

   Compare the treatment

   Look at how you were treated compared with others, and what the records show.

2. 02

   Build the record

   Gather the facts, the complaints made and how the employer responded.

3. 03

   Prepare for trial

   Negotiate from strength, with every case built as if it will go to a jury.