The numbers at a glance
- 684 national origin charges filed in California with the EEOC in fiscal 2025
- 14.4% of California charges, against 8.9 percent nationally
- 8.7% of all U.S. national origin charges came from California
- 4,053 California right to sue complaints alleging national origin in 2024, plus 2,814 alleging ancestry
- 7,856 national origin charges nationwide in fiscal 2025
National origin discrimination means being treated worse because of where you or your family come from, your accent, your language, or being married to or associated with people of a particular origin. California adds ancestry as a separate basis, prohibits English only rules without business necessity, and since 2014 treats an employer's threats to report immigration status as retaliation. The counts below understate the problem for an obvious reason: the workers most exposed are the least likely to file.
California national origin charges by year
| Fiscal year | California charges, national origin | Share of all California charges | U.S. charges | California share of U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 684 | 14.4% | 7,856 | 8.7% |
| 2024 | 754 | 14.8% | 8,266 | 9.1% |
| 2023 | 655 | 12.7% | 6,963 | 9.4% |
| 2022 | 499 | 11.3% | 5,500 | 9.1% |
| 2021 | 626 | 16.2% | 6,213 | 10.1% |
| 2020 | 634 | 15.4% | 6,377 | 9.9% |
| 2019 | 697 | 16.3% | 7,009 | 9.9% |
| 2018 | 619 | 14.2% | 7,106 | 8.7% |
| 2017 | 786 | 14.5% | 8,299 | 9.5% |
| 2016 | 930 | 15.8% | 9,840 | 9.5% |
| 2015 | 1,058 | 17.1% | 9,438 | 11.2% |
| 2014 | 1,101 | 17.3% | 9,579 | 11.5% |
| 2013 | 1,170 | 17.0% | 10,642 | 11.0% |
| 2012 | 1,350 | 18.2% | 10,883 | 12.4% |
| 2011 | 1,355 | 18.9% | 11,833 | 11.5% |
| 2010 | 1,354 | 18.9% | 11,304 | 12.0% |
| 2009 | 1,319 | 19.8% | 11,134 | 11.8% |
California's share of the national total has run between 9 and 12 percent in this series, far above the state's share of all charges, which was 5.4 percent in fiscal 2025.
A note on how to read the EEOC figures. The EEOC counts a charge under every basis it alleges, so a single charge that claims sex discrimination and retaliation shows up in both columns and the columns add up to more than the total. The state figures cover charges filed with the EEOC itself, not the tens of thousands of complaints California workers file with the state Civil Rights Department, which we cover separately.
State complaints, national origin and ancestry
| Basis | Right to sue 2024 | Right to sue 2023 | Right to sue 2022 | Investigated 2024 | Investigated 2023 | Investigated 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National origin | 4,053 | 3,675 | 2,989 | 524 | 503 | 469 |
| Ancestry | 2,814 | 2,698 | 2,128 | 427 | 383 | 341 |
| Race | 7,655 | 5,791 | 4,973 | 1,190 | 1,322 | 1,086 |
| Color | 5,140 | 3,992 | 3,158 | 358 | 445 | 394 |
National origin right to sue complaints rose 36 percent from 2022 to 2024 and ancestry complaints rose 32 percent. In practice most complaints that allege national origin also allege race, and vice versa.
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.
Outcomes nationally
Nationally the EEOC resolved 8,480 national origin charges in fiscal 2025. 537 settled, 505 were withdrawn with benefits, 208 ended in a reasonable cause finding, 5,509 in a no cause finding and 1,721 were closed administratively. Merit resolutions totaled 1,250, 14.7 percent of resolutions, and the agency obtained 61.4 million dollars for charging parties without litigation.
Protections that matter for immigrant workers
- Every California employment law protects workers regardless of immigration status, and a court cannot inquire into status in a discrimination case unless the party asking shows by clear and convincing evidence that it is necessary.
- An employer that threatens to call immigration authorities because a worker complained is committing retaliation under the Labor Code, and its business license can be suspended.
- English only rules are unlawful unless justified by business necessity, and accent discrimination is national origin discrimination unless the accent materially interferes with the job.
- Harassment about origin, language, food, religion or immigration status is harassment under the same rules as any other basis.
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.
Treated differently because of where you are from?
Free, confidential review with a California employment lawyer. Immigration status does not matter.
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.
- EEOC, Table E1b, charge receipts by state and basis, FY 2009 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- EEOC, Table E4c, national origin based charge receipts and resolutions, FY 1997 to FY 2025, www.eeoc.gov
- 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 national origin discrimination charges are filed in California?
Can undocumented workers file a discrimination claim in California?
Is an English only rule legal?
Is accent discrimination illegal?
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.