The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) has published its annual statistical report on unlawful workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation charges filed in 2015.
Individuals filed 17,915 complaints with DFEH last year, up a few hundred from the 2014 total. Many contained multiple accusations. Retaliation, disability and sex-based grievances top the 2015 list, comprising 54.5% of the total:
- Retaliation (14,043)
- Sex or gender-based accusations (13,608)
- Disability – mental and physical (8,507)
The Department reports it settled a total of 1,011 cases for which it obtained $12,143,133 in monetary recovery. The Department also filed 46 lawsuits last year for which disability rights violation was the most common allegation.
These statistics underscore the importance for all employers and employees to know and apply clearly written workplace policies prohibiting all types of unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Policies should also require reporting and specify prompt and fair internal investigation procedures to resolve any such matters. See, Is Your Harassment Policy California Compliant? New Regulation May Require Policy Overhaul (April, 2016).
For more information, please contact one of our attorneys Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
Cindy Bamforth
November 2, 2016