New Discrimination Laws In California
Date: December 1992

Governor Wilson recently signed a number of bills which will provide new protections for employees under California’s discrimination laws.

I.     Damages and Fines

One new law allows for the imposition of greater penalties against employers and changes legal pro-cedures. Previously, an employee could only obtain actual damages (e.g. lost wages and benefits) in a discrimination action brought under the administrative pro-cedures of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In order to obtain emotional distress and/or punitive damages, the employee was forced to go to court. However, under the new laws, an employee can obtain emotional distress (and other non-pecuniary) damages administratively and will no longer be required to go to court. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing was also given authority to impose administrative fines on employers. The FEHA may not exceed a total of $50,000 in non-pecuniary damages and administrative fines and cannot award punitive damages.

II.     Sexual Harassment

Another new law signed by Governor Wilson imposes new obligations on employers in the sexual harassment area. Employers are required either to distribute to each employee an “Information Sheet On Sexual Harassment” developed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or, alternatively, to provide equivalent information to employees concerning the employer’s own policy. The employer’s policy must contain, at a minimum, the following components:

• The illegality of sexual harassment.

• The definition of sexual harassment under state and federal laws.

• A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples.

• The internal complaint process of the employer.

• The legal remedies and complaint process available.

• Directions on how to contact the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

• Protections against retaliation.

Obviously this means that employers must re-evaluate their policy to ensure compliance with the new law  and distribute the policy to all employees.

III.     Physical and Mental Disabilities

The FEHA has long included a prohibition against discrimination on the basis of physical handicap. New laws signed by the Governor make substantial changes in this area:

• The current prohibition of discrimination on the basis of physical handicap is now ex-panded to include both physical and mental disabilities.

• The state law is changed to conform to the recently enacted Federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

• The definition of physical disability is expanded to cover people with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and also those suffering from AIDS and AIDS-Related Complex (ARC).

• The FEHA is expanded to require a greater number of employers to provide reasonable accommodations for women temporarily disabled by pregnancy.

IV.     Sexual Orientation

Yet another new law prohibits discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. Previously, court decisions provided limited protection against discrimination on this basis, however, this new law explicitly prohibits this discrimination. An employee who believes that he or she has been discriminated against because of actual or perceived sexual orientation may either bring an administrative action (with the Labor Commissioner) or an action directly in court.

V.     Conclusion

Obviously these new laws will have a significant impact on California employers. Most of the new laws become effective on January 1, 1993 but some aspects of the laws will not become effective until 1994. Generally, California’s new discrimination laws apply to employers with five or more employees. Some of the new laws, however, only apply to employers with 15 or more employees.

For information on these new laws or any other labor issues,  contact our Labor Department at (310) 858-7700.

Our Labor Department represents employers in wrongful termination and employment discrimination cases in state and federal courts. The department also represents employers in collective bargaining negotiations, arbitrations and matters before state and federal administrative agencies. In addition, we provide general labor counseling on unionization, personnel policies, grievances and wage and hour issues.

Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman was founded in 1957. The Firm's areas of expertise include: Labor and Employment Law, Litigation, Corporate, Entertainment, Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate, Taxation, Family Law, Insurance Coverage and Defense, Real Estate and Employee Benefits.

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