Sources & Citations

CA Civil Rights Department: California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination & Harassment
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and its implementing regulations protect civil rights at work by enforcing laws that protect you from illegal discrimination and harassment in employment.

CA Civil Rights Department: California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination & Harassment
California law covers applicants, employees, independent contractors, interns (paid or unpaid), and volunteers applying to businesses with one or more employees for harassment protections and five or more employees for discrimination and retaliation protections.

National Academy of Sciences
While sexual harassing behavior can be either direct (targeted at an individual) or ambient (a general level of sexual harassment in an environment), it always falls under three categories of behavior including gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Discrimination by Type
Access information about the various types of discrimination prohibited by the laws the EEOC enforcesas well as links to the relevant laws, regulations, policy guidance, as well as fact sheets, FAQs, best practices, and other information.

CA Civil Rights Department: Employment Discrimination Protected Characteristics
The Civil Rights Department (CRD) is responsible for enforcing state laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of a protected characteristic.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Access the online portal used for public reporting of sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace to the EEOC.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Youth@Work
A United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's website for youth in the workforce, Youth@Work is designed to teach young workers about their rights and responsibilities as an employee.

EEOC: Protections Against Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its landmark decision in the case Bostock v. Clayton County,[1] which held that the prohibition against sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) includes employment discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status.

EEOC: Bathroom Access and Gender Identity Fact Sheet
Access a document that summarizes an EEOC federal sector administrative decision issued in 2015 in a Title VII case alleging sex discrimination based on gender identity with respect to bathroom/facility access.

CA Civil Rights Department: Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet
California law requires employers to ensure supervisors and non-supervisory employees understand their rights and responsibilities about sexual harassment.

CA Civil Rights Department: Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet
California law holds employers liable for harassment in the workplace, meaning workers can recover damages from employers if it is determined that unlawful harassment occurred.

National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Access an online resource collection that includes information about defining workplace sexual harassment, understanding the scope of the size of the problem, and the path to prevention.

Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal
The EEOC enforces Federal laws that protect you from discrimination in employment. Learn about your rights as a worker.

Laws Enforced by the EEOC
Learn about the different federal anti-discrimination laws that are enforced by the EEOC.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Harassment
Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age (beginning at age 40), disability, or genetic information (including family medical history).

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices
Covering applicants and employees, Federal Law does NOT offer protections from harassment to interns, independent contractors, or unpaid volunteers and applies to businesses with fifteen or more employees.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Sexual Harassment
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

EEOC: How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination
Employment discrimination charges can be filed to the EEOC online, in persone at an EEOC office, by telephone, at a state or local fair employment agency, or by mail.

State of California Department of Justice: Attorney General's Office
Access information about what happens following a report of workplace discrimination or harassment.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Learn the answers to commonly asked questions about the EEOC formal complaint and investigation process.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
An effective harassment complaint system welcomes questions, concerns, and complaints; encourages employees to report potentially problematic conduct early; treats alleged victims, complainants, witnesses, alleged harassers, and others with respect; operates promptly, thoroughly, and impartially; and imposes appropriate consequences for harassment or related misconduct, such as retaliation.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Harassment FAQs
When one has made it clear that they aren't interested in dating a co-worker, continued pressure to do so can be considered sexual harassment.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Harassment FAQs
When one persists in seeking to continue a relationship or in making sexual advances or comments to someone they used to date, they may be committing sexual harassment.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Access a document produced by the DFEH to provide guidance to California employers on their obligation to prevent and correct wrongful behavior.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Harassment
The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages.

Formal Complaint of Harassment Investigation Process
Learn the answers to commonly asked questions about the EEOC formal complaint and investigation process.

EEOC: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies
Employees who work alone or have few opportunities to interact with others are more easily accessible to harassers and lack the protection of having a witness.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The EEOC enforces Federal laws that protect you from discrimination in employment. Learn about your rights as a worker.

EEOC: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies
Employees in the minority can feel isolated and may actually be, or at least appear to be, vulnerable to pressure from others, while employees in the majority might feel threatened by those they perceive as "different" or "other," or might simply be uncomfortable around others who are not like them.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Learn about the different federal anti-discrimination laws that are enforced by the EEOC.

UCLA School of Law Williams Instutute
Employment discrimination and harassment against LGBT people has been documented in a variety of sources and found to negatively impact employees’ health and wellbeing and to reduce job commitment and satisfaction.

American Medical Association
The AMA defines workplace bullying as repeated, emotionally or physically abusive, disrespectful, disruptive, inappropriate, insulting, intimidating, and/or threatening behavior targeted at a specific individual or a group of individuals that manifests from a real or perceived power imbalance and is often, but not always, intended to control, embarrass, undermine, threaten, or otherwise harm the target.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Workplace incivility, from sarcasm and demeaning comments to rude interruptions and outright hostility, can have a host of negative effects on everything from employees’ productivity and decision-making acumen to their mental and physical health.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Sex Discrimination
The harasser, as well as the victim, can be a male or female. The harasser can be your supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who does not work for your employer, such as a client or customer.

EEOC: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies
Workplaces with prized employees, low-ranking employees, or both may create an environment susceptible to harassment.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Access a document intended to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies regarding pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work.

Pregnancy Discrimination Enforcement Guidance
Access a document intended to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies regarding pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

EEOC: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies
Workplaces that rely on customer service or client satisfaction can increase the risk of harassment as compensation received is directly tied to customer satisfaction or client service.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The laws enforced by EEOC prohibit an employer or other covered entity from using neutral employment policies and practices that have a disproportionately negative effect on applicants or employees of a particular race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), or national origin, or on an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities, if the polices or practices at issue are not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The Report of the Co-Chairs of EEOC's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace identified five core principles that have generally proven effective in preventing and addressing harassment and include committed and engaged leadership, consistent and demonstrated accountability, strong and comprehensive harassment policies, trusted and accessible complaint procedures, and regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Intended to communicate the Commission’s position on important legal issues, the proposed guidance on harassment in the workplace under EEOC-enforced laws will – when approved – supersede existing guidance.

Retaliation and Related Issues Enforcement Guidance
Access a document that addresses the anti-retaliation provisions under each statute enforced by the EEOC.

EEOC: Confidentiality
Access guidance on confidentiality in reporting workplace harassment.

Filing a Harassment Complaint with the CRD
Access information on how to file a harassment complaint with the State of California Civil Rights Department.

How to File a Harassment Complaint with the EEOC
Access information about how to file a complaint of harassment with the U.S. Equal Employement Opportunity Commission.

State of California Department of Justice: Office of the Attorney General
Access information about what to do if you are experiencing harassment in the workplace and know that you have options and support when you decide to come forward.

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)
Access important information about reporting sexual assault to law enforcement.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Access a document that addresses the anti-retaliation provisions under each statute enforced by the EEOC.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Effective enforcement of labor and employment laws requires that the enforcement process be insulated from inappropriate manipulation by parties who seek to prevent workers from exercising their rights or retaliate against them when they do.

CA Civil Rights Department
Access an example of a discrimination, harassment, and retaliation prevention policy for use in the state of California.

State of California Department of Justice: Attorney General's Office
Access information about what to do if you are a victim of sexual assault.

Reporting Sexual Assault to Law Enforcement
Access important information about reporting sexual assault to law enforcement.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Learn answers to commonly asked questions about sex discrimination in the workplace.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

CA Civil Rights Department: Facts About Sexual Harassment
The laws enforced by EEOC prohibit an employer or other covered entity from using neutral employment policies and practices that have a disproportionately negative effect on applicants or employees of a particular race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), or national origin, or on an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities, if the polices or practices at issue are not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Access a EEOC data highlight that focuses on charges alleging sexual harassment under Title VII filed with the agency beginning in FY 2018 through FY 2021.

EEOC: Preventing Employment Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender Workers
Although Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and courts have said that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on an applicant or employee's gender identity or sexual orientation.

Laws Enforced by the CRD
Learn about the different California state anti-discrimination laws that are enforced by the CRD.

Sexual Harassment in Our Nation’s Workplaces
Access a EEOC data highlight that focuses on charges alleging sexual harassment under Title VII filed with the agency beginning in FY 2018 through FY 2021.

Harassment Complaint System: Ensuring it's Effective and Accessible
An effective harassment complaint system welcomes questions, concerns, and complaints; encourages employees to report potentially problematic conduct early; treats alleged victims, complainants, witnesses, alleged harassers, and others with respect; operates promptly, thoroughly, and impartially; and imposes appropriate consequences for harassment or related misconduct, such as retaliation.

EEOC: Enforcement Guidance, Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors
An employer is subject to vicarious liability for unlawful harassment if the harassment was committed by “a supervisor with immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee.

EEOC: Confidentiality
Access guidance on confidentiality in reporting workplace harassment.

CA Civil Rights Department: The Rights of Employees Who are Transgender or Gender Nonconforming
California law protects transgender and gender nonconforming people from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation at work.

CA Civil Rights Department: Facts About Sexual Harassment
Examples of harassing behaviors include offensive or derogatory jokes, racial or ethnic slurs, pressure for dates or sexual favors, unwelcome comments about a person's religion or religious garments, or offensive graffiti, cartoons or pictures.

U.S. Department of Labor
Harassment that creates an objectively hostile work environment also may violate the law, even if no negative employment action has taken place.

State of California Department of Justice: Attorney General's Office
Access information about what to do if you are experiencing harassment in the workplace and know that you have options and support when you decide to come forward.

What You Should Know: What to Do if you Believe you have been Harassed at Work
Access the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance on what to do if you have been experiencing harassing behaviors in the workplace.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an independent federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee.

National Library of Medicine
Both victimization and witnessing workplace bullying were significantly associated with psychological distress, physical complaints, subjective poor health, physician-diagnosed mental disorders, and job dissatisfaction.

Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace
Intended to communicate the Commission’s position on important legal issues, the proposed guidance on harassment in the workplace under EEOC-enforced laws will – when approved – supersede existing guidance.

Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment
The Report of the Co-Chairs of EEOC's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace identified five core principles that have generally proven effective in preventing and addressing harassment and include committed and engaged leadership, consistent and demonstrated accountability, strong and comprehensive harassment policies, trusted and accessible complaint procedures, and regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation, also requiring that employers “take reasonablesteps to prevent and correct wrongful (harassing, discriminatory, retaliatory) behavior in the workplace.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Your Rights
The laws enforced by EEOC provide five basic rights for job applicants and employees who work in the United States: the rights to work free of discrimination, work free of harassment, complain about job discrimination without punishment, request workplace changes, and keep your medical information private.

EEOC: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies
Young people who are entering the workforce for the first time have less knowledge about their rights, are more vulnerable to negative behaviors, and are more likely to take part in inappropriate behaviors.

Young Workforce: Risk Factor for Harassment
Young people who are entering the workforce for the first time have less knowledge about their rights, are more vulnerable to negative behaviors, and are more likely to take part in inappropriate behaviors.

CA Civil Rights Department
Access information about your rights and obligations as an employee if you are pregnant, have a pregnancy-related medical condition, or are recovering from childbirth.