Why it matters
What has the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) been up to? The California agency published a report on its fifth year of activity, highlighting an increase in complaints filed. With a 5 percent uptick from 2016, the DFEH received almost 25,000 administrative complaints and inquiries during 2017, with approximately 90 percent of those related to employment (roughly 5 percent were housing-related, and the remainder fell under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Disabled Persons Act or the Ralph Civil Rights Act). Of the employment-related complaints, almost 20 percent were based on alleged age discrimination and retaliation, a jump of 11 percent over the prior year. The most complaints came from Los Angeles County (with 30 percent of the DFEH’s total docket), followed by Orange and San Diego counties. The agency also noted that it increased its settlement revenues by 12 percent, hitting almost $13 million for the year.
Detailed discussion
The largest state civil rights agency in the country, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) strives to protect state residents from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation, as well as from hate violence and human trafficking.
In 2017, DFEH received 24,779 complaints from members of the public who alleged that their civil rights were violated. More than half of these claims were requests for an immediate right-to-sue letter in employment cases; the remaining claims were investigated by the agency.
Employment complaints topped the list. Within that category, age-related discrimination was the most complained-about topic, constituting 19 percent of the total claims (a rise of 11 percent over the prior year), followed by disability. In third place, there was a tie between engagement in protected activity claims and sex- and gender-based discrimination claims. Discrimination based on race, sexual harassment, family care and national origin rounded out the list.
Complaints were filed by residents across the state, with Los Angeles County taking the top spot. Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties completed the top five in number of complaints by county residence.
The DFEH settled 888 cases in 2017, with a combined monetary value of $12,984,367.92, although the agency noted that other forms of relief are often included in such deals. “Most Department settlements also include ‘affirmative relief’ in the form of injunctions, training and monitoring, or changes in policies that increase fair employment or housing opportunities, or that decrease the likelihood of future discrimination or hate violence,” according to the report. “Some settlements include only affirmative relief and no economic recovery.”
Of the 140 cases referred to the Legal Division by the Enforcement Division last year, 39 percent, or 54 cases, were employment-related. The Legal Division filed a total of 35 civil complaints on behalf of 49 individual complainants. The most common basis for a case filed in court: disability discrimination. Retaliation was the second most common claim, followed by sexual harassment.
The DFEH also took the opportunity to note improvements to the agency’s processing time frames. The average amount of time to conduct an intake interview after an intake form was submitted decreased by 30 percent in 2017, the agency said, dropping from 86 days to 60 days. And the average amount of time to close a case after an intake form was submitted fell from 413 days to 319 days in 2017, a decline of 22 percent.
To read the 2017 annual report, click here.
