Skip to: Content | Footer | Accessibility | Contact Us | Jobs
Welcome to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing

 

 

                                                                                                                    

 

Department of Fair Employment and Housing

New Fairtimes

First Quarter 2011

 

GOVERNOR BROWN APPOINTS ANNA CABALLERO STATE AND CONSUMER SERVICES AGENCY SECRETARY ­ On March 22, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Anna Caballero, of Salinas Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency. She previously served in the California Assembly representing the 28th District. From 2000 to 2006 she was the executive director of Partners for Peace, a non-profit specializing in violence prevention work. Caballero served as mayor of Salinas from 1998 to 2006 and was on the Salinas City Council from 1991 to 1998. She was a partner at Caballero, Matcham and McCarthy from 1995 to 2007 and Caballero, Govea, Matcham and McCarthy from 1982 to 1995. Caballero served as a staff attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, representing farm workers in consumer matters, from 1979 to 1982. Secretary Caballero holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego.

Secretary Anna Caballero

966 VERIZON CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CLAIMS FILED­ Following a preliminary hearing, on November 23, 2010, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr approved a $6,011,190 settlement in Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Verizon (Seales) (Super. Ct. L.A. County, 2010, No. BC444066) (Verizon) for current and former Verizon employees in California to settle a class action lawsuit the DFEH filed challenging the company's family medical leave practices. The settlement covers Verizon's voice, data and video operations in California.  This is the largest settlement in the history of the Department.  The class claims filing period closed on February 15, 2011.  There are 966 valid claims and 38 valid opt outs filed by Verizon employees.  The Department will begin classifying the claims into three tiers of beneficiaries in the next few months. 

DFEH-UCI LAW SCHOOL CIVIL RIGHTS CLINIC LAUNCHED ­ On March 24, 2011, the DFEH and the University of California, Irvine, (UCI) School of Law finalized an agreement to establish a Civil Rights Clinic.  The DFEH will partner with the UCI Foundation to develop a campus civil rights summer internship program on intake, investigation, prosecution, litigation, settlement, claims processing and resolution of civil rights class/group and individual complaints, in which UCI law students will work under the supervision of the DFEH Chief of Enforcement, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Administrator and/or Staff Counsel.  Eight UCI law students will conduct independent Verizon claim evaluations to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether the claimant experienced a California Family Rights Act (CFRA) violation and, if so, the type of violation and the appropriate level of damages. In addition to working on the Verizon class action settlement, UCI law students may also work on and gain experience in other Special Investigations Unit class action investigations and/or individual DFEH civil rights investigations.  During the academic year, UCI law students may work on the law school campus and/or any office of the DFEH.  

DFEH TO PARTNER WITH UC DAVIS LAW SCHOOL ­ The DFEH and the University of California, Davis, School of Law (King Hall) are partnering  on a DFEH Employment Law Program. Eight King Hall law students will work under the supervision of the DFEH Chief of Enforcement, SIU Administrator and/or Staff Counsel.  The summer Team Verizon project would last 10 weeks, during which time, between the UCI and  King Hall clinics, all the Verizon claims evaluation would be completed.  In addition, the students would have the opportunity to work on other DFEH class/group action cases under development.  An academic clinical program for credit would follow during the school year.  The DFEH is exploring the development of more university and college partnerships.

DFEH JOINS HUD IN NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING COLLEGIATE PARTNERSHIP WITH RIO HONDO COLLEGE - On February 9, the DFEH joined the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a new National Fair Housing Collegiate Partnership with Rio Hondo College (RHC) in Whittier. The new HUD-RHC-DFEH partnership, the first ever with a community college, will educate students about fair housing laws and equip them with skills for public service and civil rights careers. The new educational program was kicked off during a housing resource fair, and proclamation signing at the college.

DFEH'S 2010 SETTLEMENTS/JUDGMENTS EXCEED THOSE OF PRIOR YEARS - Preliminary statistics from 2010 shows that during a year of three-day furloughs, hiring freezes and budget cuts, the DFEH increased its 2010 settlements from its typical $7-9 million to over $11 million.  The success is due to the implementation of the Department's Case Grading System, the settlement of four group/class actions (not including Verizon), the establishment of a new Mediation Division, and ongoing prosecution and settlement by the Legal Division.

NOTABLE SETTLEMENTS - The DFEH continues to settle cases both pre- and post-accusation.  Below is a sample of this quarter’s settlements.

  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden, Inc. (Savelberg), DFEH Case Nos. E-200910-G-0468-00-sev; E-200910-G-0533-00-sev, E-200910-G-0503-00-aev, E-200910-G-0426-00-aev, March 24, 2011, age and sex discrimination in employment, $85,000 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Corrections Corporation ofAmerica (Chapman), Kern County Superior Court Case No. S-1500-CV-267564-DRL, March 28, 2011, disability discrimination in employment, $80,000 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Underground Service Alert of Southern California (Gaxiola), Riverside County Superior Court Case No. RIC 530421, disability discrimination in employment, $76,250 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Weber's Quality Meats (Apodaca), DFEH Case No. E-200910-M-0247-00-se, March 24, 2011, pregnancy discrimination in employment, $35,000 and affirmative relief. ,
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. United Farm Workers of America (Diaz Ramos), DFEH Case No. E-200910-G-0157-00-se, March 29, 2011, pregnancy discrimination in employment, $30,000 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery (Johns), DFEH Case Nos. E-200910-H-0919-00-se/01-s/02-s/03-s, March 31, 2011, sexual harassment in employment, $20,000 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Saratoga School for Dogs and Boarding (Silva), DFEH Case No. E-200910-G-0315-00-sv, February 23, 2011, retaliation in employment,  $3,000 and affirmative relief.

DFEH VICTORIES BEFORE THE FAIR EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING COMMISSION     

  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. City of Merced, Fire Department (Staiger), FEHC Case No. 11-01; DFEH Case No. E200708C-0925-00pe, February 4, 2011, disability discrimination in employment,  $52,765 and affirmative relief.
  • Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Belfort Arms Apartments, Inc. (De Santis),  FEHC Case No. 11-02; DFEH Case No: H200809-W-0185-00-p, 01-p,02-p, 04-p, February 4, 2011, disability discrimination in housing, $4,000 and affirmative relief. 

DFEH IN THE NEWS - DFEH Director Phyllis Cheng published her article,A Phoenix Rises from the Budgetary Ashes, in the CALIFORNIA LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW REVIEW, the official publication of the State Bar Labor & Employment Law Section, in the March 2011 issue.  The article discusses how the Department has transformed itself under the State's fiscal austerity to become a more effective and efficient civil rights agency.

DFEH CONTINUES  MONTHLY WEBINARS FOR STATE AGENCIES - The DFEH continues to offer free monthly webinars for California State Agencies.  In the past three months, the Department has presented webinars on Sexual Harassment in Employment,Unruh Civil Rights Act and Sex Discrimination in Public Accommodations, and Race and National Origin Discrimination in Employment.

 

DFEH PROCEDURAL REGULATIONS WILL PROVIDE 15-DAY ADDITIONAL COMMENT PERIOD - The DFEH's Proposed Procedural Regulations will undergo minor revisions and will be noticed for another 15 days.

 

DFEH OUTREACH ACTIVITIES - In the first quarter of 2011, DFEH Director Phyllis Cheng participated on an informational call regarding federal disability programs sponsored by the White House; reached out to the Bay Area civil rights community and THE California Employment Lawyers Association; participated in conference calls with the EEOC and HUD; participated in the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Nina Leibman Memorial, where former Senator Sheila Kuehl was the 2011 Honoree; presented the DFEH report at a breakfast seminar of the Employment Round Table of Southern California and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission; participated in the 2011 Housing and Urban Development Partnership Proclamation Signing Ceremony and Housing Resource Fair, Rio Hondo College; made a presentation at the made presentations at the Fair Housing Laws and Litigation Conference-2011; met with the Impact Project, Asian Pacific American Legal Center; conducted or will conduct meet-and-greet meetings with Members of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary and Budget Committees; and made a presentation to the Association of Corporate Counsels.  DFEH staff also outreached to the State Bar Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Subsection; Inland Fair Housing & Mediation Board; Division of Workers' Compensation 18th Annual Educational Conference; Society for Human Resources Management; California Rural Legal Assistance and Bay Area Legal Aid; Communications Workers of America; Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith; UCI Law School; and Central Labor Council.

 

LEADERS AT THE DFEH – Read about the Director'sandExecutive Staff'sbiographies, and see the Department’s new organizational chart.

Please visit the DFEH on our Web SiteandFacebook, YouTube, TwitterandLinkedIn pages.

If you already practice employment law under the FEHA, why not also expand your practice to housing law under the same Act?  The State Bar Real Property Law Section has launched a Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Subsection to train attorneys on the FEHA housing practice and the Unruh Civil Rights Act reasonable accommodations practice.  If you are interested, please e-mail Phyllis Cheng to receive an invitation to join the Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Subsection’s free E-Circle.  

Links

  • DFEH Web site:  www.dfeh.ca.gov    
  • FEHC Web site:  www.fehc.ca.gov    
  • SCSA Web site: www.scsa.ca.gov
  • SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE: NEW FAIRTIMES is a quarterly electronic newsletter.  To change or remove your e-mail address from the NEW FAIRTIMES mailing list, or for more information, e-mail Annmarie Billotti

Department of Fair Employment and Housing

State of California|State and Consumer Services Agency

2218 Kausen Drive|Suite 100|Elk Grove|California|95758

Telephone: 916.478.7251|Fax: 916.478.7329

To protect Californians from employment, housing and public

Accommodations discrimination, and hate violence.