COMPLAINTS OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
According to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, California law prohibits discrimination in employment if such discrimination is based on race, national origin, color, religion, sex, physical handicap, marital status or age.
The category of sex is broken down into cases of discrimination based on gender, sexual harassment, loss of job due to pregnancy and sexual orientation. It has been, during the last two years, by far the most frequently-mentioned category in these complaints.
The FEH records draw a distinction between cases of race/color and national origin/ancestry; the latter are not shown here because one category may fine-tune the other but for the most part they duplicate each other.
Retaliation (defined, for example, as being fired or being denied employment benefits for filing complaints against an employer) is not shown here as a category because it duplicates cases of discrimination on the basis of race or sex.
Statutes Violated FY 1987-’88 FY 1988-’89 % Change Race/Color 90 87 -3 Religion 12 11 -8 Physical Handicap 84 72 -14 Sex 363 401 +10 Marital Status 10 8 -20 Age 107 112 +5 TOTAL 666 691 +4 TOTAL CASES FILED 644 636 -1 MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS CHARGED 22 55 +150
The discrepancy between the numerical sum of cases and the ‘total cases filed’ indicates complaints in more than one category being included within individual cases.
Source: Department of Fair Employment and Housing, State of California
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