California race discrimination lawyers

The laws that protect you

Three overlapping laws protect California employees from race discrimination:

• The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Gov. Code § 12940. Covers employers with five or more employees and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and ancestry in hiring, firing, pay, promotion, discipline, assignments, and every other term of employment. Harassment protections apply to employers of any size. FEHA has no cap on damages.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The federal counterpart, covering employers with 15 or more employees. Damages are capped based on employer size.
• 42 U.S.C. § 1981. A Reconstruction-era civil rights law guaranteeing equal rights to make and enforce contracts, including employment. It applies to employers of every size, has no administrative filing requirement, no damages cap, and a four-year statute of limitations.

Hair, appearance, and the CROWN Act

California was the first state to pass the CROWN Act. Under FEHA, "race" includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locs, and twists (Gov. Code § 12926). A grooming or dress-code policy that bans natural hair or protective styles, or that is enforced more harshly against Black employees, can be unlawful discrimination even if the policy sounds neutral.

What race discrimination looks like

Discrimination can be obvious, but it's more often a pattern of decisions that add up. Warning signs include:

• Hiring and promotion: being passed over for less qualified candidates, being told you're "not a culture fit," or never being considered for leadership tracks
• Pay: earning less than coworkers of another race doing substantially similar work. California's Equal Pay Act (Labor Code § 1197.5) prohibits pay gaps based on race or ethnicity as well as sex
• Discipline: being written up or fired for conduct others get away with, or being watched more closely than colleagues
• Assignments: being steered to less desirable shifts, territories, accounts, or customer-facing limits
• Layoffs: a reduction in force that falls disproportionately on employees of one race
• Language and accent rules: English-only policies are unlawful in California unless justified by business necessity and properly communicated (Gov. Code § 12951)
• Harassment: slurs, "jokes," stereotypes, or symbols like nooses, which can create a hostile work environment

Neutral policies can still be discriminatory

Discrimination doesn't require intent. A policy that looks neutral can be illegal if it disproportionately excludes or harms employees of a particular race and isn't justified by business necessity. This is called disparate impact. Examples include certain hiring tests, height or education requirements unrelated to the job, and blanket criminal background bans. California's Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code § 12952) separately restricts how employers can use criminal history in hiring.

California regulations also now address automated decision systems, the software and AI tools used to screen applicants or evaluate employees. If an automated tool screens people out based on race or a proxy for race, the employer can be responsible.

How a race discrimination case is built

Most cases rely on circumstantial evidence, using a framework courts call McDonnell Douglas: you show you were qualified and suffered an adverse action under circumstances suggesting discrimination; the employer offers a non-discriminatory reason; you then show that reason is a pretext. Useful evidence includes:

• Comparators: coworkers of a different race who were treated better in similar circumstances
• Statistics about hiring, promotion, pay, and discipline across the workforce
• Comments by decision-makers, including coded language
• Inconsistent or changing reasons for the decision
• Your performance history and qualifications
• Complaints you or others made, and what the company did about them

What you can recover

• Lost wages and benefits, past and future
• Emotional distress damages
• Punitive damages when the employer acted with malice, oppression, or fraud
• Reinstatement, promotion, or other corrective action
• Attorney fees and costs

Deadlines

• FEHA: file with the California Civil Rights Department within three years, then sue within one year of the right-to-sue notice.
• Title VII: file an EEOC charge within 300 days.
• Section 1981: generally four years, with no agency filing required.

If you complained internally and were then punished, that is a separate retaliation claim with its own timeline. See our retaliation guide.

What to do if you're facing race discrimination

1. Keep a private, dated log. Note each decision, comment, or incident, who was involved, who witnessed it, and how coworkers of other races were treated in the same situation.
2. Save your performance history. Reviews, commendations, raises, and emails praising your work are often the best answer to a later claim of "poor performance."
3. Note comparators. Write down the names, roles, and treatment of coworkers who were promoted, paid more, or disciplined less for the same conduct.
4. Report it in writing to HR or a manager outside your chain of command, and keep a copy. That complaint triggers retaliation protection.
5. Request your personnel file and payroll records (Labor Code §§ 1198.5, 226).
6. Don't resign or sign anything until you've talked with a lawyer about how it affects your claims.

How your case works with us

Most employees have never hired a lawyer before. Here's what working with us looks like, from the first call to resolution.

1. Free, confidential consultation. We listen to what happened, review any documents you have, and tell you honestly whether you have a claim, which laws apply, and which deadlines matter.
2. Investigation. We gather your personnel file, payroll records, and communications, identify witnesses, and request records your employer is legally required to provide.
3. Agency filings, when required. For claims under FEHA, we file with the California Civil Rights Department and obtain a right-to-sue notice so your case can proceed in court.
4. Demand and negotiation. Many cases resolve through a demand letter, early negotiation, or mediation, without a trial.
5. Litigation, if needed. If your employer won't do right by you, we file suit and are prepared to take the case through discovery and trial or arbitration.

Fees. Most employment cases are handled on a contingency basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover money for you, and many California employment laws require the employer to pay your attorney fees if you win.