On January 1, 2025, California became the first state to ban intersectional discrimination. What’s that?
State and federal cases and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have long recognized that discrimination and harassment can occur, not just because of one protected trait, but also because of the combination of two or more protected bases. That’s called intersectionality.
For instance, way back in 1980, a federal appeals court said: “We hold that when a Title VII plaintiff alleges that an employer discriminates against black females, the fact that black males and white females are not subject to discrimination is irrelevant”. See Jeffries v. Harris County Comty. Action Comm’n, 615 F.2d 1025, 1032-34 (5th Cir. 1980). In a case involving an Asian American female professor, a different federal appeals court held that “Asian women are subjected to a set of stereotypes and assumptions shared neither by Asian men nor by white women. In consequence, they may be targeted for discrimination even in the absence of discrimination against Asian men or white women.” Lam v. University of Hawai’i, 40 F.3d 1551 (9th Cir. 1994).
You’ve heard of the gender gap in pay. On average, women make 83 cents to every dollar paid to men. But did you know that disparity grows to 66 cents for Black women, and 58 cents to every dollar for Hispanic and Native women? Or that women in their 20s make 93 cents to every dollar paid to a man, but women in their 60s make only 74 cents?
Similarly, women of color with disabilities are less likely than white women with disabilities to have employers meet their requests for accommodations, and they are more likely to experience discrimination and harassment than other people with disabilities. Women with disabilities are paid, on average, 50 cents for every dollar paid to non-disabled men and 72 cents for every dollar paid to men with disabilities.
The new law, which cites the Lam case with approval, explains: “The Legislature recognizes that where two or more bases for discrimination or harassment exist, they cannot be neatly reduced to distinct components…When a person claims multiple bases for discrimination or harassment, it may be necessary to determine whether the discrimination or harassment occurred on the basis of a combination of those factors, not just based on any one protected characteristic by itself.”
What this means to you:
Is your anti-harassment training program up to date for 2025? Does it include intersectional discrimination? Does it incorporate recommendations from the 2024 EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace?
Fair Measures does! Our Harassment Prevention webinars for managers and employees and our Respectful Workplace classroom training have been overhauled for 2025 to teach your employees what they need to know right now about preventing workplace harassment, discrimination, and bullying, being an upstander–not a bystander, and keeping your organization a great place to work.
Resolve to let us help you make your workplace the best it can be. To find out more about our national HR and employment law training programs, or to book a 2025 workshop, please call 800-458-2778 or send us an email!
Updated 01-06-2025
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.