Criminal Record Discrimination

California's Fair Chance Act, often called the "ban the box" law, is one of the strongest second-chance hiring laws in the country. It controls when an employer may ask about your criminal history, what it may consider, and the exact process it must follow before taking a job away because of your record. Many Los Angeles employers skip those steps entirely.

Labor Law PC represents employees and job applicants only, never employers. From our Santa Monica office, we handle Fair Chance Act and discrimination claims across Los Angeles County, from hospitality and retail to logistics, healthcare, and entertainment. The consultation is free and we work on contingency: no fees until we win. Call (877) 775-2267 or contact us online.

Signs an Employer Violated Your Fair Chance Rights

Most applicants never learn why an offer vanished. These red flags suggest the law was broken:

• The job application asked about convictions. Covered California employers may not ask about criminal history on an application or at any point before making a conditional job offer.
• You were asked about your record in the interview, before any offer was made.
• The job posting said "no felons," "clean background required," or otherwise announced that people with records need not apply.
• Your offer was rescinded with no written notice, or the notice never identified the conviction the employer relied on.
• You never received a copy of the background check report the employer used against you.
• You were given no chance to respond with evidence of rehabilitation, inaccuracy, or mitigating circumstances before the decision became final.
• The employer relied on an arrest that never led to a conviction, a sealed or expunged case, a dismissed charge, or participation in a diversion program.
• A current employer fired or demoted you after learning about an old conviction that has nothing to do with your job.

If any of this sounds familiar, save the job posting, the application, every email, and the background report. Those documents often prove the violation by themselves.

The California Fair Chance Act: Government Code Section 12952

The Fair Chance Act, codified at Government Code section 12952 as part of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), applies to California employers with five or more employees. Since it is part of FEHA, violations are treated as employment discrimination, enforced by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and the courts.

No Criminal History Questions Before a Conditional Offer

A covered employer may not ask about your conviction history, on the application, in interviews, or through a background check, until after it has made you a conditional offer of employment. It also may not consider or share information about arrests that did not end in conviction, referrals to or participation in pretrial or posttrial diversion programs, or convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, expunged, or statutorily eradicated.

The Individualized Assessment

If a post-offer background check turns up a conviction and the employer is thinking about pulling the offer, it cannot simply say no. It must first make an individualized assessment of whether your specific conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job. That assessment must consider, at minimum:

1. The nature and gravity of the offense and the conduct behind it.
2. How much time has passed since the offense and the completion of any sentence.
3. The nature of the job you are being hired to do.

CRD regulations flesh out these factors and let you present evidence of rehabilitation and mitigating circumstances, such as work history, education, treatment, and community involvement. [VERIFY current CRD Fair Chance Act regulation details before publishing.]

Notice and Your Right to Respond

Before a preliminary decision to rescind becomes final, the employer must give you written notice that identifies the disqualifying conviction, includes a copy of the background check report if one was used, and explains your right to respond. You generally must be given at least five business days to respond, and if you notify the employer that you dispute the report's accuracy and are gathering evidence, you are entitled to additional time. If the employer makes a final decision to deny you the job, it must notify you in writing and tell you about your right to file a complaint with the CRD. Skipping any of these steps is itself a violation.

Los Angeles Goes Further

Workers in Los Angeles often have layered protections. The City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance has applied to larger private employers in the city since 2017, and the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, which took effect in 2024 for employers in unincorporated areas of the county, imposes additional requirements, including fair chance language in job postings, a written individualized assessment, longer response windows, and civil penalties. [VERIFY current City and County ordinance coverage, thresholds, and penalty amounts before publishing.] An attorney can sort out which laws apply to your employer and stack the strongest claims.

Deadlines

Because the Fair Chance Act lives inside FEHA, you generally have three years from the violation to file a complaint with the CRD, followed by a limited window to sue after receiving a right-to-sue notice. Local ordinance claims and related claims can carry different, sometimes much shorter, deadlines. Deadlines vary by claim, so talk to a lawyer promptly rather than assuming you have time.

What to Expect When You Call Labor Law PC

1. Free, confidential consultation. Tell us what happened. Nothing you share leaves the conversation, and talking to us never appears on any background check.
2. Document review. We examine the job posting, application, offer letter, background report, and every notice (or missing notice) against the Fair Chance Act's step-by-step requirements.
3. CRD complaint. We file with the California Civil Rights Department to preserve your FEHA claim and obtain a right-to-sue notice when litigation is the right path.
4. Negotiation or lawsuit. Many employers resolve clear procedural violations without trial. When they refuse, we litigate in Los Angeles Superior Court.

What You May Recover

No outcome is ever guaranteed, but depending on the facts, remedies in Fair Chance Act and related discrimination cases may include lost wages from the job you were denied, emotional distress damages, punitive damages in egregious cases, attorney fees and costs under FEHA, and orders requiring the employer to change its hiring practices. Local ordinances may add civil penalties. What your case may be worth depends entirely on its facts, which is what the free consultation is for.

No Fees Until We Win

If you were just denied a job, the last thing you need is a legal bill. Labor Law PC handles criminal record discrimination cases on contingency: free consultation, no upfront costs, and our fee comes out of the recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe us no attorney fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can an employer in California ask about my criminal record on a job application?

  Generally no. Employers with five or more employees may not ask about conviction history on applications or in interviews before making a conditional job offer. Certain positions required by law to undergo background checks, such as some healthcare, law enforcement, and financial roles, are exempt.

• Can a job offer be withdrawn because of my conviction?

  Only after the employer performs an individualized assessment tying your specific conviction to the specific job, gives you written notice with a copy of the report, and lets you respond. An automatic "any felony" disqualification policy is a red flag for a violation.

• What about arrests that never led to a conviction?

  With narrow exceptions, California employers may not ask about or rely on arrests that did not result in conviction, sealed or expunged cases, dismissals, or completed diversion programs. Using them against you can violate both FEHA and the Labor Code.

• Does the Fair Chance Act protect current employees or only applicants?

  The statute is centered on hiring, but current employees have related protections, and firing someone over a legally off-limits record can support wrongful termination and discrimination claims. The details matter, so have a lawyer review your situation.

• How long do I have to bring a claim?

  Generally three years to file a FEHA complaint with the CRD, but local ordinance and related claims can have much shorter windows, and exceptions cut both ways. Deadlines vary, so get advice as early as you can.

• Do blanket background check policies ever violate other laws?

  They can. Because conviction and arrest rates are not evenly distributed, blanket exclusions can have a disparate impact tied to race or national origin, adding a separate FEHA discrimination theory to a Fair Chance Act claim.

Related Practice Areas

• Employment Discrimination: the full range of FEHA protected categories and how claims work.
• Race Discrimination: blanket background check policies often hit some groups far harder, creating disparate impact claims.
• National Origin Discrimination: record-based screening intertwined with ethnicity or immigration status bias.
• Wrongful Termination: firings based on off-limits criminal history information.

Serving Los Angeles and All of California

From Santa Monica, Labor Law PC represents applicants and employees throughout Los Angeles County, including Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Torrance, Inglewood, and the San Fernando Valley, and workers across California.

Talk to a Fair Chance Act Lawyer for Free

A record should not follow you into every interview for the rest of your life. California law agrees. If an employer dug into your history too early, skipped the required notices, or refused to hear your side, find out where you stand.

Call (877) 775-2267 or request your free case evaluation online. No fees until we win.