San Francisco discrimination
San Francisco Discrimination Lawyer
Age, pregnancy, race, disability, or AI screening discrimination. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the state’s main workplace discrimination law, gives you uncapped damages.
This page covers discrimination for San Francisco employees. For the statewide rules see California workplace discrimination, and for other San Francisco claims see the San Francisco hub.
Your Deadline Is Already Running
Three years to file with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), the state agency that handles discrimination complaints, then one year from the right to sue letter.
See the full deadline table.
What Does Illegal Discrimination Look Like Here?
Under FEHA, with a five employee threshold, uncapped damages, and a long list of protected traits, bad treatment becomes illegal when a protected trait drove it. Harassers can be personally liable, and we never apply deadlines from the EEOC, the federal agency that handles job discrimination complaints, to a FEHA claim.
Is Age Discrimination the Quiet Engine of Tech Layoffs?
Employees 40 and over are often overrepresented in reduction in force lists. Culture fit and digital native language becomes exhibit material, and the ADEA group disclosure data shows the pattern.
Combined trait patterns can also support an intersectional claim under SB 1137, effective 2025.
Were You Screened Out by AI?
The CRD automated decision system regulations, effective October 2025, do not create a new standalone claim. Liability runs through FEHA on a disparate impact theory, but they reach the resume screeners, video interview scoring, and productivity ranking tools that many SF based vendors build and employers use.
Does a Conviction History Keep You From Getting Hired in SF?
The San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance is stricter than statewide law, both on the timing of background checks and on the employer individualized assessment duties. You can pursue an OLSE complaint plus a FEHA overlay.
Pregnancy, Disability, and Leave Discrimination
Startup and finance cultures produce familiar patterns: a role backfilled during leave, restructured out on return, and interactive process failures in return to work.
See pregnancy and disability.
How Do I File, and by When?
A CRD complaint within three years, filed online through CCRS or at the Oakland office. Dual filing with the EEOC is available. Venue is the Civic Center Courthouse or the Northern District of California.
Find Out Where You Stand
Three questions and a phone number. An attorney reads every one, and you hear back within one business day.
San Francisco Discrimination FAQ
I was laid off at 52 while my team stayed. Is that a case?
It is a strong start. The reduction in force list data and comparators build it.
I was rejected in a video interview scored by software. Can I do anything?
Possibly. Disparate impact through FEHA reaches AI screening tools.
I was asked about my conviction on the application. Is that legal in SF?
The Fair Chance Ordinance restricts when and how that can happen.
Does My 8 Person Startup Count Under FEHA?
Yes. Discrimination protection starts at five employees.
Employment Law Resources
- California Civil Rights Department, FEHA and automated decision system rules: calcivilrights.ca.gov
- Government Code section 12940, unlawful employment practices: leginfo
- SF OLSE, Fair Chance Ordinance: sf.gov
- SB 1137, intersectionality amendment effective 1/1/2025: leginfo
Tell Us What Happened
One business day for a response. You pay nothing unless we win.