California Workplace Harassment Lawyer

Seek the Help You Need

The Eghbali Law Firm focuses largely on workplace harassment cases, and we are fully committed to fighting for the rights of employees in California to work free from this type of offensive conduct. Don’t wait to discuss your rights and a possible case with an experienced attorney for free today.

What California Counts as Workplace Harassment

Harassment law protects more than most workers assume. FEHA covers conduct aimed at race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age over 40, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military and veteran status. If you are being singled out for abuse because of who you are, some part of that list almost certainly covers you.

The conduct itself can be verbal (slurs, "jokes," degrading comments), physical (touching, blocking, throwing things), or visual (posters, memes, group-chat images). It does not need to be sexual. A warehouse where the shift lead mocks an accent every morning is a harassment case. So is a clinic where the charge nurse ridicules a worker's religious dress.

The legal standard, in plain terms

Courts ask whether the conduct was severe or pervasive enough to alter working conditions - one truly serious act, or a drumbeat of smaller ones. California's SB 1300 sharpened this in employees' favor: the Legislature declared that a single incident can be enough if it interfered with your work or created an intimidating environment, and that harassment cases are rarely appropriate for dismissal before trial. You do not need to prove your career was ruined or that you suffered a breakdown. The question is whether a reasonable person in your shoes would find the workplace hostile.

Who is responsible for what

When the harasser is a supervisor, the employer is strictly liable under FEHA. When it is a coworker, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take prompt, effective action. And California goes a step further than most states: under Government Code section 12940(j), employers can be responsible for harassment by non-employees too - customers, clients, patients, vendors - once they know about it and fail to act. Servers, nurses, cashiers, and delivery drivers are not required to absorb abuse because "that's just how the customer is."

Report it in writing, then watch the clock

Report internally in a dated email if it is safe - that record defeats the "no one told us" defense and starts the employer's duty to act. Then know your deadlines: three years to file with the Civil Rights Department, 300 days for the federal EEOC, one year to sue after a right-to-sue notice. In 2024 alone, CRD processed 16,924 immediate right-to-sue requests in employment cases - workers moving straight to court with counsel. If HR sits on your complaint, you are not stuck waiting. (How long can they take? See HR investigation timelines.)

Retaliation is a separate violation

Demotion, sudden discipline, dropped hours, exclusion from meetings after you complain - each is independently unlawful, even if the underlying harassment claim later falls short, so long as you reported in good faith. An adverse action within 90 days of a protected complaint is presumed retaliatory under SB 497, and the employer carries the burden of rebutting it.