Racial Harassment

Whatever form it takes, racial harassment is illegal in California, and you do not have to absorb it to keep your paycheck. Labor Law PC represents employees, never employers, in racial harassment cases across Los Angeles, one of the most diverse workforces in the world. From our Santa Monica office we fight for workers in every industry that powers this city: logistics and the ports, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, garment, retail, and tech.

If you are being harassed because of your race, color, ancestry, or national origin, call (877) 775-2267 for a free, confidential consultation.

What Racial Harassment at Work Looks Like

Racial harassment is unwelcome conduct based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, or associated traits. In our experience, it usually falls into a few patterns:

Slurs, epithets, and "jokes"

• Racial slurs or epithets, whether directed at you, said "about" others, or disguised as quoting a song or a joke
• Nicknames, accents mimicry, or "compliments" that reduce you to a stereotype
• Racist memes, texts, or comments in group chats and work channels
• Graffiti, nooses, swastikas, or other hate symbols in the workplace

Under California law, a single use of certain slurs or symbols can be severe enough on its own to create an unlawful hostile work environment. You do not need to endure a pattern before the law protects you.

Code words and "subtle" harassment

• Comments that you are "articulate," "aggressive," "not a culture fit," or "hard to understand"
• Mockery of your name, accent, language, food, or neighborhood
• Remarks about your hair. Under California's CROWN Act, race is defined to include hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locs, and twists, so harassing someone over natural hair is racial harassment.
• Assumptions that you are the help, the security risk, or the diversity hire

Exclusion and sabotage

• Being consistently left out of meetings, trainings, client dinners, or promotion pipelines that colleagues of other races are invited to
• Getting the worst shifts, routes, or assignments along racial lines
• Having your mistakes magnified and your wins ignored while others get grace
• Isolation after you object: suddenly no one talks to you, and information stops flowing

Exclusion is often the hardest form to name, but courts recognize that pervasive exclusion and differential treatment can create a hostile work environment just as surely as slurs can.

California Law Protects You More Than Federal Law Does

The FEHA covers virtually every worker. California's Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits racial harassment by employers of any size, and it protects employees, job applicants, contractors, interns, and volunteers. Federal law only reaches employers with 15 or more employees.

Everyone is protected, in every direction. The FEHA protects people of every race and color. It also does not matter if the harasser is the same race as you, or belongs to a minority group. What matters is that the conduct is unwelcome and based on race.

Your employer answers for the harassment. If the harasser is a supervisor, your employer is strictly liable under California law. If it is a coworker, customer, or vendor, the employer is liable when it knew or should have known and failed to fix it. This is why reporting in writing is so valuable: it eliminates the "we had no idea" defense.

The standard favors employees. Under Government Code section 12923 (SB 1300), a hostile work environment can be shown by a single severe incident or an accumulation of smaller ones, you do not need to prove your work suffered, and these claims are rarely suitable for dismissal before a jury hears them.

Deadlines: generally three years. You generally have three years from the most recent incident to file with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), then typically one year to sue after a right-to-sue notice. Deadlines vary by claim and can be shorter, so get advice early.

Harassment often travels with discrimination. If race is also affecting your pay, promotions, discipline, or termination, that is race discrimination, a related but distinct claim we frequently pursue alongside harassment.

What You Can Do Right Now

1. Write it down. Keep a dated log of every incident: what was said or done, by whom, where, and who witnessed it. Contemporaneous notes are persuasive evidence.
2. Save the proof. Screenshot messages and memes on your personal phone, photograph graffiti or notes, and keep copies of schedules and assignments that show a racial pattern.
3. Report it in writing. A short, factual email to HR or management ("On June 3, in the break room, X said...") puts your employer on legal notice and triggers its duty to act.
4. Do not retaliate or quit in the moment. Responding in kind or resigning abruptly can complicate your case. If conditions are becoming unbearable, talk to a lawyer about your options first.
5. Call an employment lawyer. We can evaluate your situation, protect you from missteps, file with the CRD, and pursue compensation including lost pay, emotional distress damages (uncapped under the FEHA), punitive damages where warranted, and attorney's fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

• A coworker used a racial slur once. Is that enough for a case?

  It can be. California law recognizes that a single incident, if severe, can create a hostile work environment, and courts have treated certain slurs as exactly that kind of severe conduct. The full context matters, so have a lawyer assess it. The consultation is free.

• The harassment comes from customers, not coworkers. Is my employer still responsible?

  Often, yes. California employers must protect workers from racial harassment by clients, customers, and vendors once they know or should know about it. If you reported customer harassment and your employer shrugged, it may be liable.

• My manager says it was just banter and I am too sensitive. Are they right?

  The law does not use your manager's standard. It asks whether a reasonable person in your position would find the environment hostile or offensive. Repeated racial "banter" that management tolerates is a classic hostile work environment fact pattern.

• I am afraid reporting will get me fired. What should I do?

  That fear is understandable and common. Retaliation for a good-faith harassment complaint is illegal under the FEHA, and a retaliatory firing often becomes a second, powerful claim. We regularly help clients report harassment in a way that documents everything and minimizes risk. See our retaliation page or call us before you report.

• What is the difference between racial harassment and racial discrimination?

  Harassment is about conduct that creates an abusive environment: slurs, jokes, exclusion, intimidation. Discrimination is about employment decisions: hiring, pay, promotion, discipline, firing. Many cases involve both, and we pursue them together when the facts support it.

Related Practice Areas

• Workplace Harassment: harassment protections for every protected characteristic
• Hostile Work Environment: the severe or pervasive standard explained
• Race Discrimination: when race affects pay, promotion, or termination decisions
• Retaliation: punished for reporting racial harassment

Speak With a Los Angeles Racial Harassment Lawyer

You deserve to work with dignity. Call (877) 775-2267 or contact Labor Law PC for a free, confidential consultation. Hablamos Español. No fees until we win.