Workplace Discrimination Lawyer in San Francisco

If you experienced workplace discrimination at a San Francisco workplace, you have strong protections under California law. We represent employees only, never employers, and offer a free, confidential consultation. 1-800-371-3088.

What Is Workplace Discrimination in San Francisco

Workplace discrimination in San Francisco takes many forms: failure to hire, demotion, denial of promotion, unequal pay, harassment, denial of accommodation, and termination because of a worker's race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age (40 and over), pregnancy, disability, medical condition, marital status, military or veteran status, or genetic information. FEHA (Cal. Government Code section 12940) applies to SF employers with 5 or more employees for discrimination claims and 1 or more for harassment. The SF Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code Article 49) lowers the criminal-history threshold to 5 or more employees worldwide for SF workers - broader than California's Fair Chance Act.

San Francisco Industries Where Discrimination Claims Are Most Common

• Tech workers - at Salesforce, Uber, Lyft, OpenAI, X/Twitter, Airbnb, Block, Pinterest, Reddit, Stripe, and LinkedIn. Common claims: AI / automated-decision-system bias (California Civil Rights Council ADS regulations effective October 1, 2025), H-1B retaliation, equity/stock-vesting discrimination, and age discrimination.
• Healthcare workers - at UCSF, CPMC/Sutter, Kaiser SF, Dignity Health Saint Francis and St. Mary's, Chinese Hospital, and ZSFG. Pregnancy and disability discrimination, race and national-origin discrimination, accommodation denials.
• Hospitality workers - at Hilton Union Square, Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, Fairmont, Westin St. Francis, Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton.
• Financial-services workers - at Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Visa, BlackRock, Bank of the West, and First Republic / JPMorgan. Common claims: pregnancy and caregiver discrimination, equal-pay claims under Labor Code section 1197.5, FCRA / SF FCO background-check violations.
• Public-sector workers - at the City and County of San Francisco, SFUSD, SFMTA, BART, CCSF, and UCSF. Subject to the 6-month government-claim deadline under Cal. Government Code section 911.2.

San Francisco City Protections

SF has city-specific anti-discrimination protections that go beyond California state law. The SF Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code Article 49) covers employers with 5 or more employees worldwide and prohibits criminal-history inquiries on initial applications. The SF Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance (SF Administrative Code Chapter 12Z) covers employers with 20+ employees and protects caregivers requesting flexible or predictable schedules. SB 1162 (effective January 1, 2023) requires employers with 15+ employees to include pay scales in every job posting and employers with 100+ to file annual pay-data reports with the California Civil Rights Department.

California Law

For the full California framework, including FEHA, Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, equal pay, and pregnancy accommodation, see our California employment law page.

What Compensation Can You Recover

California does not cap FEHA damages. You may recover lost wages (back pay and front pay), emotional-distress damages, punitive damages (employer net-worth driven), and attorneys' fees and costs (Cal. Government Code section 12965(c)). For details, see our California employment law page.

How to File a Discrimination Claim in San Francisco

State FEHA charges go to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) - statewide intake (800) 884-1684. Federal charges go to the EEOC San Francisco District Office, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. Civil suits are heard at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco). Wage claims can be filed with the California Labor Commissioner (DLSE San Francisco, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, 9th Floor, Suite 9628). Call us at 1-800-371-3088 before any deadline.