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There is another important protection from workplace retaliation under the State of California, and that falls under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. That retaliation statute is essentially very similar to California Labor Code Section 1102.5, but in this case, the anti-retaliation statute deals with retaliating against an employee for engaging in protected activity that falls under the protection of the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
For instance, if you complain to your employer or employment agency that you are being discriminated against on the basis of your race, sex, or religion, sexual orientation, disability, or some other protected category, and then your employer retaliates against you by firing you or taking some other adverse employment actions that materially affect the conditions of your employment, that would constitute retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Similarly, if you are being sexually harassed by your employer or by a manager or supervisor, or even in some certain cases by a coworker, and you report that sexual harassment to your employer, and they retaliate against you with some sort of adverse employment action, for instance, by firing you or taking away your responsibilities or benefits, then that too would constitute a violation of the anti-retaliation provision under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Recently, the Governor of California signed a bill clarifying that the anti-retaliation provision under the Fair Employment and Housing Act also prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for requesting a reasonable accommodation for his or her disability. So, if an employee asks an employer to accommodate their disability by giving them light duty work or modifying their duties or schedule in some way to allow for them to deal with their disability and still be able to get their work done, the employer could also be violating the Fair Employment and Housing Act if they retaliate against that employee for requesting a reasonable accommodation.
To summarize, there are the two main prohibitions against retaliation in California. One is under the California Labor Code and the other one is under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. They can both be very powerful tools to vindicate your rights in getting justice for workplace retaliation. ...