Workplace Discrimination Lawyer for Employees for California employees
As a California workplace discrimination lawyer, Milan Chatterjee represents employees in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties who were fired, demoted, passed over or paid less because of who they are. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects workers at employers with 5 or more employees and is one of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the country.
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2 States
Admitted to the State Bars of Nevada and California
Fortune 500
Former in-house counsel, Las Vegas Sands Corp.
UCLA Law
Law degree, UCLA School of Law; visiting student, NYU Law
As Seen In
Bloomberg Law and the Las Vegas Review-Journal
2 States
Admitted to the State Bars of Nevada and California
Fortune 500
Former in-house counsel, Las Vegas Sands Corp
UCLA Law
Law degree, UCLA School of Law; visiting student, NYU Law
As Seen In
Bloomberg Law and the Las Vegas Review-Journal
What You Can Recover in a FEHA Discrimination Claim
FEHA allows employees to recover the full range of damages available in a civil lawsuit. Emotional distress damages are not capped under FEHA, and the court can order the employer to pay your attorney's fees. As your California workplace discrimination lawyer, our job is to document every loss.
- Back pay: lost wages and benefits from the date of the discriminatory act
- Front pay: future lost earnings when returning to the job is not realistic
- Lost bonuses, raises, promotions and retirement contributions.
- Emotional distress damages.
- Punitive damages when the employer acted with malice, oppression or fraud (Civ. Code 3294)See retaliation
- Reasonable attorney's fees, costs and expert fees (Gov. Code 12965).
- Reinstatement, a promotion you were denied, or a corrected personnel record.
- Neutral references and agreed separation terms.
- Court-ordered training and policy changes at the employer (Gov. Code 12965)
- Accountability that protects the coworkers who come after you.
Workplace Discrimination Under California Law
Discrimination is illegal when a protected characteristic is a substantial motivating reason for a decision about your job. These are the situations a California workplace discrimination lawyer sees most often.
Protected Characteristics Under FEHA
FEHA protects more groups than federal law (Gov. Code 12940(a)). Employers with 5 or more employees cannot discriminate based on:
- Identity: race (including hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, ancestry, national origin, religion and creed
- Sex and family: sex, gender, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, marital status and reproductive health decisionmaking
- Orientation and gender: sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression
- Health: physical and mental disability, medical condition and genetic information
- Age and service: age 40 and over, and military or veteran status
Unequal Treatment in Hiring, Pay, Promotion and Firing
Being fired, demoted, denied a promotion, given worse schedules or paid less than coworkers outside your group can all be discrimination. Employers rarely admit a biased reason, so these cases are usually proven through comparisons, timing and inconsistent explanations.
How We Win: We compare how you were treated with coworkers in similar roles, test the employer's stated reason against its own records, and look for shifting explanations.
Failure to Accommodate and Failure to Prevent
California employers must reasonably accommodate disabilities and religious practices, and must engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with an employee who needs a disability accommodation (Gov. Code 12940(l), (m), (n)). Employers must also take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment (Gov. Code 12940(k)).
Separate Claims: A failure to accommodate or failure to engage in the interactive process can be its own claim, even if you were never fired.
Biased Hiring Tools and Policies
Discrimination can also come from a policy that looks neutral but screens out a protected group. Since October 1, 2025, California regulations make clear that FEHA applies when employers use automated decision systems, such as AI resume screeners or online assessments, to make hiring and other employment decisions.
What We Look For: Patterns in who is hired, promoted or let go, and whether the screening tool or policy was actually needed for the job.
Unsure Whether You Have a Case?
Tell us what happened and when. We will give you an honest assessment of your rights under California law.
Investigation, Aggressive Pursuit, Maximum Recovery
When you hire a California workplace discrimination lawyer at our firm, your case moves through three phases.
Investigation & Honest Case Assessment
We review your timeline, performance history and the employer's stated reasons, and request your personnel file (Lab. Code 1198.5) and payroll records (Lab. Code 226). We identify comparators, witnesses and every deadline that applies.
Aggressive Pursuit
We file your complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), and with the EEOC when federal claims apply. Depending on your goals, we pursue an investigation and mediation, or request an immediate right-to-sue notice and file in Superior Court.
Maximum Recovery
We negotiate from a position of strength and prepare every case as if it will go to trial. As former in-house counsel, Milan knows how employers evaluate risk and what moves them to settle.
California Workers We Fight For
Our California workplace discrimination lawyer represents employees across the Inland Empire's largest industries.
Warehousing & Logistics
Pregnancy and disability bias, denied light duty, and age-based layoffs in distribution centers.
Health Care
Nurses and staff facing national origin, race or disability discrimination in hospitals and clinics.
Education & Public Sector
Teachers, school staff and public employees passed over for promotion or disciplined unequally.
Retail & Hospitality
Appearance and grooming rules applied unequally, including hair texture and protective hairstyles.
Construction & Trades
Sex and race discrimination in hiring, job assignments and crew layoffs.
Corporate & Professional
Pay gaps, stalled promotions and restructurings that fall hardest on one group.
What To Do in the First 7 Days
What you do early can shape your case. These steps protect your rights whether you still work there or have already been let go.
Write Down What Happened
Record dates, names, exact words, and who was present. Note how coworkers outside your group were treated in the same situation.
Save Your Evidence
Keep performance reviews, emails, texts, schedules and pay stubs you already have. Do not take confidential company files.
Report It in Writing
If you still work there, report the discrimination to HR in writing and keep a copy. Reporting is protected activity, and retaliation for it is illegal (Gov. Code 12940(h)).
Call an Employee Rights Lawyer
Before signing any severance agreement or release, call (888) 785-9923 for a free consultation.
Evidence That Can Strengthen a Discrimination Claim
Few employers put a biased reason in writing, so most discrimination cases are built on circumstantial evidence: a strong work history followed by a sudden change, coworkers outside your group who were treated better for the same conduct, comments about your age, accent, pregnancy or background, and explanations that shift over time.
Performance reviews, emails, texts, schedules, pay records, the personnel file and witness accounts all help show the real reason. A California workplace discrimination lawyer organizes this evidence into a clear story for the CRD, a mediator or a jury.
Discrimination Claims and California Employment Law
FEHA and federal law both apply to most California employees, with different coverage and deadlines. Talk to an attorney before relying on any deadline.
California Discrimination Claim Deadlines
| Claim | Where to file | General deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FEHA discrimination, harassment or retaliation complaint | California Civil Rights Department | 3 years from the unlawful act | Gov. Code 12960 |
| FEHA lawsuit | Superior Court | 1 year from the right-to-sue notice | Gov. Code 12965 |
| Federal charge (Title VII, ADA, ADEA) | EEOC | 300 days | 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(e) |
| Federal lawsuit | Federal court | 90 days from the EEOC right-to-sue notice | 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(f) |
| Equal pay | Labor Commissioner or court | 3 years | Lab. Code 1197.5 |
Frequently Asked Questions About California Workplace Discrimination
Workplace discrimination is an adverse decision about your job, such as firing, demotion, denied promotion, lower pay or worse assignments, where a protected characteristic like race, sex, pregnancy, disability, age 40 and over, religion, national origin or sexual orientation was a substantial motivating reason (Gov. Code 12940(a)).
FEHA's discrimination and retaliation rules apply to employers with 5 or more employees. Its harassment protections apply to employers of any size. Federal laws like Title VII generally apply only to employers with 15 or more employees.
Generally 3 years from the discriminatory act to file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (Gov. Code 12960). After you receive a right-to-sue notice, you generally have 1 year to file a lawsuit (Gov. Code 12965). Federal EEOC charges are generally due within 300 days.
Yes. To bring a FEHA claim in court, you must first file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department and receive a right-to-sue notice. You can request the notice immediately if you want to go straight to court.
Many California employees file with the CRD because FEHA covers smaller employers, protects more characteristics and does not cap damages the way federal law does. A complaint filed with one agency can often be dual filed with the other. An attorney can help you choose based on your claims.
FEHA remedies can include back pay, front pay, lost benefits, emotional distress damages and, when the employer acted with malice, oppression or fraud, punitive damages. A court can also order the employer to pay your reasonable attorney's fees and costs (Gov. Code 12965).
No. FEHA makes it illegal to retaliate against an employee for opposing discrimination, filing a complaint, or taking part in an investigation (Gov. Code 12940(h)). Retaliation is a separate claim, even if the underlying discrimination is hard to prove.
Yes. We represent employees throughout San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in California workplace discrimination claims, with free, confidential consultations in English or Spanish. Call (888) 785-9923.
Treated Unfairly? Talk to a California Workplace Discrimination Lawyer.
Tell us what happened. The consultation is free and confidential.
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Milan Chatterjee
UCLA Law Graduate. Former in-house counsel at Las Vegas Sands Corp. Nevada & California Bar. Founding President, South Asian Bar Assoc. of Las Vegas.