Workplace Discrimination Lawyer in San Jose
California workplace discrimination representation for San Jose workers across tech, healthcare, the public sector, and hospitality. Free, confidential consultation. We represent employees only.
Discrimination doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes you're the only one not invited to the team meeting. Sometimes the "performance concerns" started the week after you disclosed your disability. Sometimes the layoff list looks suspiciously old. Sometimes you're held back for promotions that go to coworkers with less experience.
The pay-equity claims at Google in Cantu v. Google LLC (Santa Clara County Superior Court 21CV392049, $28 million preliminary approval March 2025) and the race-discrimination claims in Curley v. Google LLC (N.D. Cal. 4:22-cv-01735, $50 million preliminary approval December 2025, final hearing May 2026) didn't win because the law tilted in plaintiffs' favor. They won because the evidence was there and someone gathered it.
Visit our San Jose office at 181 Devine St Suite 4, San Jose, CA 95110 or call (408) 834-4320 for a free, confidential consultation.
What Is Workplace Discrimination in San Jose
Workplace discrimination in San Jose 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 San Jose employers with 5 or more employees for discrimination claims and 1 or more for harassment. Federal Title VII (15+ employees), the ADA (15+), and the ADEA (20+) layer on top.
San Jose Industries Where Discrimination Claims Are Most Common
- Silicon Valley public-company tech workers - at the major Silicon Valley public technology companies headquartered in San Jose: Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO - 170 West Tasman Drive, leading global networking equipment company), Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE - 345 Park Avenue, leading software company), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY - 2025 Hamilton Avenue), PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC - 5601 Great Oaks Parkway, leading data-storage technology company with 10,001+ employees), HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), Verifone, Calyx Software, and Sage Intacct. Tech workers are covered by all standard California FEHA, Labor Code, and federal Title VII / ADA / ADEA / FMLA protections. Public-company employees are also protected by Sarbanes-Oxley (18 U.S.C. section 1514A) for accounting/securities fraud whistleblower claims and Dodd-Frank section 922 (15 U.S.C. section 78u-6) for securities-law whistleblower claims. Stay-or-pay agreements (training repayment, sign-on bonus clawback, relocation-cost clawback) are void for work performed in San Jose after January 1, 2026 under AB 692 (California Labor Code section 926). Non-competes are void under California Business and Professions Code section 16600 (with AB 1076 and SB 699 making this rule extraterritorial as of January 1, 2024).
- Healthcare workers - at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center / SCVMC (751 South Bascom Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128, (408) 885-5000 - 731-bed (574 acute) county-owned public tertiary teaching hospital affiliated with the Stanford University Medical School; the principal safety-net hospital in Santa Clara County), Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Regional Medical Center of San Jose, and O'Connor Hospital. Covered by SB 525 healthcare worker minimum-wage schedule (Cal. Labor Code sections 1182.14, 1182.15, 1182.16), California Health and Safety Code section 1278.5 ($25,000-per-violation civil penalty for patient-safety retaliation), and California Nurses Association (CNA) / SEIU-UHW collective bargaining agreements (which do not waive statutory FEHA or California Labor Code rights). SCVMC employees, as county employees, are subject to the 6-month Government Claims Act deadline.
- Higher education and K-12 workers - at San Jose State University / SJSU (1 Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192 - founding campus of the California State University system; state-of-California employees subject to civil-service rules and CFA collective bargaining), the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District (San Jose City College and Evergreen Valley College), and multiple K-12 districts including the San Jose Unified School District, East Side Union High School District (830 North Capitol Avenue, (408) 347-5000 - one of the largest high school districts in Northern California), Berryessa Union School District, Alum Rock Union School District, and Oak Grove School District. Protected by Skelly v. State Personnel Board (1975) 15 Cal.3d 194 due-process rights, California Whistleblower Protection Act (Cal. Gov. Code section 8547), and the 6-month Government Claims Act deadline (Cal. Gov. Code section 911.2).
- Public-sector and government workers - at the City of San Jose (200 East Santa Clara Street), the County of Santa Clara (San Jose is the county seat), the San Jose Police Department (SJPD), the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, the Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC - owned and operated by the City of San Jose), and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Peace officers are covered by the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights (POBR, Cal. Gov. Code section 3300 et seq.). Subject to the 6-month Government Claims Act deadline.
- Retail and consumer-services workers - at Westfield Valley Fair (a super-regional shopping center on the San Jose/Santa Clara border, 1,800,000+ sq ft), Santana Row (Federal Realty's mixed-use district), Westgate Mall, The Plant San Jose, and chain retailers throughout the city. San Jose workers covered by the San Jose Minimum Wage Ordinance earn $18.45/hour effective January 1, 2026 (was $17.95/hour for 2025). The San Jose Opportunity to Work Ordinance (effective March 13, 2017) requires employers with 36 or more employees to offer additional work hours to existing qualified part-time workers before hiring new employees - stronger than California state law. Fast-food workers at chains with 60+ national locations earn the $20.00/hour AB 1228 floor (Cal. Labor Code section 1474).
- Hospitality and convention workers - at hotels around the San Jose Convention Center (150 West San Carlos Street) including the San Jose Marriott, Hilton San Jose, Westin San Jose, and dozens of smaller hotels and motels. Hospitality workers are covered by the San Jose Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Opportunity to Work Ordinance. Sexual harassment by hotel guests is covered by FEHA Cal. Gov. Code section 12940(j) (third-party harassment). Tipped restaurant and bar workers earn full San Jose minimum wage of $18.45/hour plus tips (Cal. Labor Code section 351 prohibits tip pooling abuses).
- Manufacturing and biotech workers - at Jabil Circuit, numerous semiconductor and electronics manufacturers throughout San Jose, and biotech operations. Manufacturing workers are covered by Cal/OSHA standards (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8) and California Labor Code section 6310 (retaliation for safety reporting). Federal contractor workers have additional NDAA section 4712 whistleblower protection (41 U.S.C. section 4712). Public-company manufacturing employees also have Sarbanes-Oxley (18 U.S.C. section 1514A) and Dodd-Frank (15 U.S.C. section 78u-6) protection.
San Jose Local Protections
San Jose has its own local worker-protection ordinances. The San Jose minimum wage is $18.45/hour effective January 1, 2026 (was $17.95/hour for 2025) under the San Jose Minimum Wage Ordinance - higher than the California state floor of $16.90/hour. The San Jose Opportunity to Work Ordinance (effective March 13, 2017) requires employers with 36 or more employees to offer additional work hours to existing qualified part-time workers before hiring new employees - stronger than California state law. San Jose workers also rely on California state law including SB 525 (healthcare-worker tiered schedule - directly relevant to SCVMC, Kaiser San Jose, Good Samaritan, Regional Medical Center, and O'Connor Hospital workers) and AB 1228 ($20/hour fast-food).
California's Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5) requires equal pay for substantially similar work regardless of sex, race, or ethnicity. 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. SB 642 (effective January 1, 2026) broadened the definition of "wages" under Labor Code section 1197.5.
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 Jose
State FEHA charges go to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), Oakland Office, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 701, Oakland, CA 94612. Federal charges go to the EEOC San Jose Local Office (Santa Clara County jurisdiction), 96 N. Third Street, Suite 250, San Jose, CA 95112. Civil suits are heard at the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Hall of Justice, 190-200 West Hedding Street, San Jose, CA 95110. Wage claims can be filed with the California Labor Commissioner (DLSE San Jose Office, 224 Airport Parkway, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95110, (408) 277-1266). Call us at (408) 834-4320 before any deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
It might be. ADEA covers workers 40 and older, and FEHA goes further. The pattern that wins these cases is the layoff list - who was kept, who was cut, what the average age looks like on each side. Save every layoff document, the spreadsheet of who was affected if a worker has it, and any "workers are going in a different direction" emails.
Generally no. The California Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5) prohibits paying employees of one sex, race, or ethnicity less than employees of another for substantially similar work, unless the employer can prove the difference is justified by seniority, merit, production, or another bona fide factor. Cantu v. Google LLC (Santa Clara County Superior Court 21CV392049) reached preliminary approval of a $28 million settlement on March 12, 2025, on pay-equity claims. Pay-equity cases require pay records, job descriptions, and performance data. Save what a worker can; workers can subpoena the rest.
They can ask for medical certification of the limitation, but they can't demand the worker's full medical records or the worker's diagnosis. Under FEHA the employer has to engage in a good-faith interactive process to find a reasonable accommodation. Stalling, demanding more than necessary, or denying without engaging is itself an FEHA violation. Document every request, every response, and every delay.
Yes. A "no cause" finding doesn't stop a lawsuit. The worker will need a right-to-sue letter from CRD (or a notice of right to sue from EEOC). After that a worker generally have one year to file the FEHA suit and 90 days to file the Title VII suit. Don't take the agency's letter as the final answer. The agencies handle thousands of claims with limited resources, and the file a worker build for litigation looks very different from the one they reviewed.
Were You Discriminated Against at Work?
Speak with a California workplace discrimination lawyer today. Free confidential consultation. No fee unless you win. Call 1-800-371-3088.
Legal Disclaimer: This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employment law is complex and fact-specific. The information on this page reflects California law as of 2026 and may change. If you believe your rights have been violated, please consult a licensed California employment attorney to evaluate your specific situation.