Fair Employment and Housing Act: unlawful practices.

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment, participate in a labor organization, and participate in employment training or apprenticeship programs without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation. Existing law authorizes a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice under these provisions to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and authorizes the department to bring a civil action on the behalf of the person in the case of a failure to eliminate an unlawful practice under these provisions. This bill would provide that, in a claim of discrimination or retaliation under these provisions, the person claiming to have been aggrieved shall prevail if he or she has proven that a protected characteristic or activity was a substantial motivating factor, as defined, in the employment action or decision. If an employer pleads and proves that it would have made the same employment action or decision at the same time, without considering the protected characteristic or activity, the remedies available to the employee would be limited as specified. In addition, if an employer pleads and proves that it would have made the same employment action or decision at the same time without considering the protected characteristic or activity, the bill would authorize injunctive relief and attorney's and expert's fees against the employer and would require a specified civil penalty to be paid by that employer to the employee.