Employment discrimination has been typically defined as unequal treatment at work, without justification, and based on a prohibited reason.
In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age and sexual orientation, and also discrimination on the basis that a person is perceived to have a protected characteristic, or on the basis that a person is associated with someone who has or is perceived to have a protected characteristic. Employers may not retaliate against employees for exercising their rights under the FEHA.
Protected Categories
- Age Discrimination (over age 40)
- Disability Discrimination (physical or mental)
- Race/Color Discrimination
- National Origin
- Ancestry
- Religious Discrimination
- Sex (Gender) Discrimination
- Pregnancy Discrimination
- Marital Status
- Sexual Orientation
- Medical Condition
- Genetic Information
- Military Status
- Whistleblower