Employment Discrimination Attorney in Inglewood
- Last Updated:
What California Law Actually Prohibits, and Who It Covers
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits employment discrimination by any employer with five or more employees, a threshold far lower than the 15 employees required under federal law. That means most Inglewood-area employers, the aerospace subcontractor with eight workers, the hotel with twelve, the medical office with seven, are fully bound by FEHA. The law bars discrimination in hiring, pay, promotions, job assignments, training, and termination on the basis of race, disability, age (40 and older), gender, sexual orientation, and more than a dozen other characteristics. Workers have three years from the discriminatory act to file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), but that clock starts on the date the act occurred, not the date you consult an attorney.
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD), formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), is the state agency that enforces FEHA. FEHA covers public and private employers, labor organizations, apprentice training programs, employment agencies, and licensing boards. Two categories are explicitly excluded: the federal government and non-profit religious associations or corporations.
FEHA also extends its protections regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The CRD does not inquire about either when a complaint is filed, which means undocumented workers in Inglewood have the same right to file as any other employee.
FEHA’s full list of protected characteristics includes:
- Race, color, and ancestry
- National origin and religious creed
- Physical disability and mental disability
- Medical condition and genetic information
- Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
- Sexual orientation
- Age (40 and older)
- Marital status
- Military and veteran status
- Reproductive health decision-making (added January 1, 2023, by SB 523)
Which Employment Decisions Are Covered Under FEHA
FEHA does not limit its reach to termination. It prohibits discriminatory decisions across the full employment relationship:
- Hiring and recruitment
- Job assignments and transfers
- Promotions and demotions
- Pay, raises, and bonuses
- Access to training and professional development
- Termination, layoff, and constructive discharge
How California's Protections Compare to Federal Law, and Why It Matters for Inglewood Workers
Many workers have heard of the EEOC or Title VII and assume those federal rules govern their situation. They may be the primary protection available in other states, but in California they are a floor, not a ceiling, and for many Inglewood workers they do not even apply.
Law | Employer-Size Threshold | Key Protected Characteristics | Enforcing Agency
|
|---|---|---|---|
California FEHA | 5+ employees (anti-discrimination/retaliation); all employers (anti-harassment) | Race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age (40+), marital status, reproductive health decisions, and more | California Civil Rights Department (CRD) |
Federal Title VII | 15+ employees | Race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy), national origin | EEOC |
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) | 15+ employees | Disability | EEOC |
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) | 20+ employees | Age (40+) | EEOC |
The practical consequence for Inglewood workers is significant. A worker at a 10-person restaurant, a 7-person logistics company, or an 8-employee medical office has no federal claim at all under Title VII or the ADA. But that same worker has a full FEHA claim in California. If your employer has five or more people on payroll, California law almost certainly applies to you.
Workers dealing with disability discrimination specifically should note that FEHA’s 5-employee threshold means far more employers are obligated to provide reasonable accommodations and engage in the interactive process than federal law requires.
What to Gather Before You File: An Evidence and Intake Checklist
Once you understand the law covers your employer and your situation, the next step is preserving what you have. Evidence degrades quickly: emails get deleted, witnesses leave, and memory fades. Gather the following before contacting the CRD or an employment discrimination attorney:
- Dates and descriptions of each discriminatory act, written out in your own words as soon as possible while memory is fresh
- Emails, texts, and written communications that reference the adverse action, the protected characteristic, or comments from supervisors or coworkers
- Performance reviews and disciplinary records, including any that contradict the stated reason for your termination or demotion
- Pay stubs and offer letters showing your compensation history and job title over time
- Comparator information: the name, role, and treatment of employees in similar positions who were not in your protected class
- Internal complaints you already made, including HR reports, emails to management, or any written responses you received
- Witness names and contact information for coworkers who observed the discrimination or heard relevant statements
- Any employer policies (employee handbooks, anti-discrimination policies) that may have been violated
- Your employment contract or offer letter if you have one
- The exact date the adverse employment action occurred, because that date starts the three-year CRD filing clock under Government Code § 12960
Filing Deadlines Every Inglewood Worker Must Know, Before It's Too Late
Under Government Code § 12960, a worker must file a complaint with the CRD within three years of the date the discriminatory act occurred. That date is not when you were told about the decision, not when you hired an attorney, and not when you discovered the full extent of the harm. It is when the act happened.
Three years sounds like a long window. It is not, for several reasons:
- Gathering evidence, identifying witnesses, and drafting a complete complaint takes weeks or months
- Employers preserve records on their own schedules; critical documents may disappear long before a complaint is filed
- If you want to file a lawsuit in Superior Court, you cannot simply go to court directly; you must first file with the CRD
Under Government Code § 12965(c)(1)(D), once the CRD issues a right-to-sue notice, you have one year from the date of that notice to file a civil lawsuit in Superior Court. That is a second, separate deadline that begins only after the first process is complete. Missing it forfeits the right to litigate entirely.
Workers who believe their termination also violated public policy or involved retaliation for reporting wrongdoing may have additional claims. Our team handles wrongful termination cases in Inglewood alongside FEHA discrimination claims, since the two frequently arise from the same set of facts.
How to Work with an Employment Discrimination Attorney on Your CRD Filing
An employment discrimination attorney helps you identify the precise date the discriminatory act occurred, which determines whether you are still inside the three-year window. The attorney can file the CRD complaint and simultaneously request an immediate right-to-sue notice if litigation is your goal, rather than waiting for the CRD’s investigation to conclude. Once that notice is issued, the one-year Superior Court deadline begins running immediately, so coordinating both steps from the start avoids losing time between the two clocks.
A common employer tactic at this stage is to argue that the adverse action was based on legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons, such as a performance deficiency or a position elimination. An attorney familiar with FEHA litigation can document the evidentiary record to anticipate and counter those defenses before the complaint is even filed.
What Remedies Are Available Under FEHA
Under Government Code § 12965, a court that finds an employer liable for a FEHA violation may order the following:
- Mandatory training for all employees, supervisors, and managers on FEHA’s requirements, victims’ rights and remedies, and the employer’s internal complaint procedures
- A civil penalty of up to $25,000 against the defendant for denial of rights under Civil Code § 51.7
- Any other relief available under laws enforced by the CRD
Back pay, front pay, and other forms of compensatory relief are case-specific and depend on the facts of each individual claim. Setareh Law Group can evaluate what remedies may be available based on the specifics of your situation during a consultation.
Situations Where FEHA May Not Protect You
Part of evaluating a discrimination claim honestly is identifying situations where FEHA does not apply. Workers in these circumstances should understand the limits before investing time and resources in a claim:
- Your employer is the federal government. FEHA explicitly excludes the federal government from its definition of employer. Federal employees have separate protections under federal civil rights statutes and must follow different procedures.
- Your employer is a non-profit religious association or corporation. FEHA excludes this category of employer from coverage.
- Your employer has fewer than five employees. Anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation provisions do not apply. However, anti-harassment provisions under FEHA apply to every workplace regardless of size, so harassment claims may still be viable.
- Your treatment was unfair but not connected to a protected characteristic. FEHA prohibits discrimination because of a protected trait. A manager who is rude, plays favorites based on personal relationships, or makes poor business decisions has not necessarily violated FEHA. The protected characteristic must be a substantial motivating reason for the adverse action.
Situations involving harassment based on sex often overlap with but are legally distinct from general discrimination claims. If unwanted sexual conduct or gender-based harassment is part of your situation, our sexual harassment attorneys in Inglewood handle those claims under the same FEHA framework.
Why Location Matters: Inglewood Workers and the CRD Process
Inglewood’s workforce is concentrated in sectors where discrimination claims are not uncommon: hospitality, healthcare support, logistics and warehousing near LAX, retail, and construction trades. Many of the employers in these industries operate with workforces in the five-to-forty-employee range, which puts them squarely within FEHA’s reach but entirely outside federal protections. Workers in these settings who file only with the EEOC or attempt to go directly to federal court may find their claims dismissed for failure to meet the employer-size threshold. The California CRD process is the correct path.
For a broad overview of the firm’s Inglewood-area practice and the full range of employment matters we handle, see our employment lawyer page for Inglewood.
Workers with questions about how a specific discriminatory pattern across California employers is being handled can also review the firm’s California employment discrimination practice overview for additional context on the types of claims we evaluate.
What This Means If You Believe You Were Discriminated Against
The most important step you can take right now is to write down every relevant date, statement, and event before more time passes. The three-year CRD filing deadline under Government Code § 12960 runs from the date the act occurred, and every week of delay is a week in which documents disappear and witnesses move on. If your employer has five or more employees and the adverse action was connected to a protected characteristic such as your race, disability, age, or pregnancy status, California law very likely gives you a claim even if federal law does not reach your employer. The filing process is not optional: even workers who plan to go directly to Superior Court must first file with the CRD. Acting before that window closes preserves every option; waiting narrows them.
Frequently Asked Questions
My employer has only eight employees. Does California law still protect me?
Yes. FEHA’s anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation provisions apply to employers with five or more employees. An eight-person employer is fully covered. Federal law would not reach this employer, but FEHA does.
Do I have to file with the CRD before I can sue my employer?
Yes. Government Code § 12965 requires that a complainant file with the CRD even if their goal is to litigate in Superior Court. You may request an immediate right-to-sue notice at the time you file the CRD complaint so that the agency investigation does not delay your litigation timeline.
How long do I have to file?
You have three years from the date of the discriminatory act to file a complaint with the CRD (Gov. Code § 12960). After a right-to-sue notice is issued, you have one year from that notice date to file a civil lawsuit in Superior Court (Gov. Code § 12965(c)(1)(C)). These are two separate deadlines.
I am undocumented. Can I still file a FEHA complaint?
Yes. FEHA protections apply to California workers regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The CRD does not inquire about either when processing a complaint.
What if I was harassed but not fired?
FEHA’s anti-harassment provisions apply to every workplace in California, regardless of employer size. You do not need to be terminated to have a viable claim. Harassment based on a protected characteristic that creates a hostile work environment is independently actionable under FEHA.
If you believe your employer discriminated against you, contact Setareh Law Group to speak with a California employment discrimination attorney about your specific situation. We represent workers throughout the Inglewood area and across California. Time limits apply; do not wait to get answers.
Contact us today:
📞 Phone: 310-888-7771
✉️ Email: help@setarehlaw.com
🌐 Address: 420 N Camden Dr, Beverly Hills CA, 90210
Disclaimer: This article is general legal information about California employment discrimination law and is provided for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different, and the law’s application depends on the specific facts of your case. Reading this article does not substitute for consultation with a licensed California employment attorney.
Sources and Additional Resources
Authoritative sources cited
- Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)
- Government Code § 12960
- Government Code § 12965(c)(1)(C)
- Civil Code § 51.7
Related Setareh Law Group resources
Practice Areas:
Table of Contents
- verified by Trustindex
