The numbers at a glance
- 33,505 intake forms CRD received in 2024, up 29 percent from 2022
- 16,924 right to sue notices issued in 2024
- 6,089 investigations opened, covering 7,195 complaints
- 4,077 of those complaints were employment, 1,322 housing
- $99,411,396 in settlements recorded in 2024 across 872 matters
The Civil Rights Department, until 2022 called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, enforces the state's discrimination, harassment and retaliation laws. It publishes an annual report each year with the counts below. The reports cover calendar years, and the most recent covers 2024.
The caseload, 2022 to 2024
| Measure | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intake forms received | 33,505 | 29,877 | 25,961 |
| Right to sue notices issued | 16,924 | 14,982 | 12,457 |
| Investigations opened | 6,089 | 5,765 | 4,813 |
| Complaints covered by those investigations | 7,195 | 6,914 | 5,698 |
| Employment complaints | 4,077 | 4,072 | 3,419 |
| Housing complaints | 1,322 | 1,254 | 1,004 |
| Complaints closed (not counting settlements) | 5,099 | 4,554 | |
| Settlements | 872 | 788 | 656 |
| Settlement dollars | $99,411,396 | $116,506,424 | $12,419,947 |
Every intake line grew. Right to sue notices rose 36 percent in two years and investigations 27 percent. Employment complaints accepted for investigation were flat between 2023 and 2024 at about 4,077, which is the department's capacity, not the demand. Settlement dollars swing with a handful of large legal division cases: $85,767,631 of the 2024 total came from 39 matters handled by the legal division, while 549 mediations produced $13,471,498 and 310 enforcement settlements produced $1,217,448.
Employment complaints by basis, the ten largest lines
| Basis | Right to sue 2024 | Right to sue 2023 | Right to sue 2022 | Investigated 2024 | Investigated 2023 | Investigated 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disability | 14,430 | 13,686 | 10,349 | 2,174 | 2,008 | 1,832 |
| Reported or resisted discrimination | 11,837 | 8,533 | 6,381 | 1,775 | 1,832 | 1,548 |
| Sex or gender | 9,131 | 8,299 | 6,768 | 1,257 | 1,351 | 1,257 |
| CFRA | 8,340 | 6,885 | 5,975 | 231 | 319 | 214 |
| Requested disability accommodation | 8,288 | 5,308 | 3,679 | 958 | 918 | 758 |
| Race | 7,655 | 5,791 | 4,973 | 1,190 | 1,322 | 1,086 |
| Sexual harassment, hostile environment | 6,787 | 6,297 | 4,990 | 449 | 429 | 441 |
| Age | 5,911 | 5,340 | 4,535 | 867 | 865 | 832 |
| Medical condition | 5,700 | 5,600 | 4,558 | 120 | 112 | 106 |
| Color | 5,140 | 3,992 | 3,158 | 358 | 445 | 394 |
The ordering is stable across the three years: disability first, retaliation second, sex third. The full basis tables are on our individual pages for disability, retaliation, sex and gender, race, age and sexual harassment.
A note on how to read the CRD figures. The Civil Rights Department publishes its numbers by calendar year, and it counts a complaint under every basis it lists, so the basis rows add up to more than the number of complaints. Most California workers who go to court first ask CRD for an immediate right to sue notice rather than an investigation, so the right to sue table is the closer measure of how many people are actually pursuing a claim.
How a complaint moves through CRD
- You file an intake form online, by mail or by phone. In 2024 there were 33,505.
- If you ask for an immediate right to sue, the notice issues and you have one year to file in court. About half of intakes take this route.
- Otherwise an intake officer decides whether the complaint states a claim the department can investigate. About a quarter of the remaining intakes are closed at this stage.
- The department offers free mediation. In 2024 its dispute resolution division settled 549 matters.
- If the investigation finds a violation the department tries conciliation and can sue the employer itself. If it does not, it closes the file and issues a right to sue.
The department handles all of this, employment and housing together, with a staff that is small next to the caseload. That is the practical reason represented workers ask for the right to sue and go to court.
What these numbers mean if it happened to you
- CRD is the right first stop for almost every California workplace claim: three year deadline, broad statute, immediate right to sue.
- An investigation is free and can produce a settlement, but the department can only investigate a few thousand employment complaints a year.
- A right to sue notice starts a one year clock to file in court. Get advice before requesting it.
- The department's own settlement figures leave out everything resolved after a right to sue, which is where most California cases end.
Deadlines that decide these cases
A California worker has three years from the last act of harassment or discrimination to file with the Civil Rights Department, and one year after a right to sue notice to file in court. The federal deadline is much shorter, 300 days to file a charge with the EEOC. The counts on this page only include people who filed inside those windows. Everyone who waited too long is missing from every table here.
Need to file with CRD?
A free, confidential review will tell you whether to request an investigation or a right to sue, and what your claim is worth.
Sources
The figures on this page were taken from the following publications, as released by the agencies. Percentages, changes, sums and rates per 100,000 workers are our own arithmetic from those figures.
- California Civil Rights Department, 2024 Annual Report (complaint tables and county appendix), calcivilrights.ca.gov
- California Civil Rights Department, 2023 Annual Report, calcivilrights.ca.gov
- California Civil Rights Department, 2022 Annual Report, calcivilrights.ca.gov
Frequently asked questions
How many complaints does the California Civil Rights Department receive?
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What is a right to sue notice?
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Attorney advertising. The figures on this page come from the public sources listed above and are reproduced or computed as described. They are provided for general information and do not constitute legal advice, nor does reading this page create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. If you believe your rights were violated, consult a California employment attorney promptly, filing deadlines apply.