Nearly half of all Californians speak a language at home other than English. Nearly one-third of the state's population is foreign-born approximately 10 million people, representing about a quarter of the entire country's immigrant population. Yet despite California's extraordinary diversity, national origin discrimination remains one of the most pervasive forms of workplace injustice and one of the least understood.

If you have been passed over for a job because of your accent, punished for speaking your native language at work, or threatened by your employer with immigration enforcement, you may have a powerful legal claim under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). California law is among the strongest in the nation on this issue and it covers far more than just where you were born.

What FEHA Protects: A Broad Definition of "National Origin"

Government Code § 12940(a) prohibits employers from discriminating against any employee because of their national origin in any aspect of employment including hiring, firing, compensation, promotion, and working conditions. But the FEHA's definition of "national origin" extends well beyond birthplace.

Effective July 1, 2018, California's Fair Employment and Housing Council issued sweeping new regulations under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11028 that dramatically expanded what counts as "national origin" discrimination. The definition now explicitly includes all physical, cultural, and linguistic characteristics associated with a national origin group. This means your name, the way you look, the language you speak, the accent you carry, your tribal affiliation, your membership in cultural organizations, your attendance at ethnic religious institutions, and even your marriage to someone of a particular national origin are all protected.

Crucially, protection extends to perceived national origin as well. An employer who discriminates against someone because they appear to be of a particular ethnicity even if they are not has violated FEHA just as if the person were actually a member of that group.

Language Discrimination: English-Only Rules and Proficiency Requirements

One of the most significant and misunderstood areas of FEHA's national origin protections involves language in the workplace. California Government Code § 12951 and Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11028(a) make all language restrictions presumptively unlawful. An employer may not adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in the workplace including an English-only rule unless three specific conditions are met: the restriction is justified by business necessity; the restriction is narrowly tailored; and the employer has effectively notified employees of when the restriction applies and what the consequences are for violating it.

Blanket English-only policies rules that apply at all times are never lawful. More than that, they can never apply during an employee's non-work time such as rest and meal breaks, when the employer must relinquish control over how the employee spends their time.

A real-world example: In 2012, a California medical center agreed to pay $975,000 after Filipino healthcare workers were threatened with suspension or termination for speaking Tagalog including during personal phone calls on their break time.

English proficiency requirements carry the same risks. An employer cannot discriminate against an employee for a lack of English fluency unless English proficiency is genuinely necessary to effectively fulfill the specific job duties of the position and the employer must be able to demonstrate that.

Accent Discrimination: A Hidden but Illegal Form of Bias

Treating an employee worse because of their accent is also illegal under FEHA. An employer cannot factor an employee's accent into any employment decision hiring, promotion, assignment, termination unless it can prove the accent materially interferes with the employee's ability to perform the specific job at issue. This is a high bar, and the employer must evaluate the accent fairly and objectively, not based on assumptions or generalizations about how customers might react.

Speaking Spanish, for example, may be indicative of a person's Mexican or Chilean origin and is therefore protected. Although accent alone is not a national origin, an accent clearly linked to a national origin group is protected as a linguistic characteristic of that group.

Immigration Status: FEHA Protects Everyone

One of the most important and least publicized protections in California law is that FEHA applies to California workers regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The California Civil Rights Department does not inquire about citizenship or immigration status when investigating a complaint.

The 2018 FEHA regulations went further. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11028(f)(3), an employer who discriminates against an employee based on immigration status must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that such discrimination is required in order to comply with federal immigration law an extremely high bar that few employers can meet.

Retaliation based on immigration status is also explicitly prohibited. It is unlawful for an employer to threaten to contact immigration authorities or law enforcement about the immigration status of an employee, a former employee, an applicant, or a family member. Taking any adverse action against an employee for attempting to update personal information — such as a name change or a new government-issued employment document is also illegal.

How to Prove Your Claim and What You Can Win

National origin discrimination claims under FEHA follow the same McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework used for other discrimination claims: establish a prima facie case, respond to the employer's stated reason, and demonstrate that reason was a pretext. Evidence can include: discriminatory comments about your nationality, accent, or language; disparate treatment compared to colleagues of different national origins; sudden policy changes affecting only employees of a particular background; and documented patterns of denial of opportunities based on national origin characteristics.

FEHA provides broader remedies than federal law. Unlike Title VII, FEHA applies to employers with five or more employees not fifteen and does not cap noneconomic damages like emotional distress or punitive damages.

The Bottom Line

California is home to the world's most diverse workforce, and FEHA reflects that reality with some of the broadest national origin protections anywhere in the country. Whether you have been harassed for your accent, punished for speaking your language during your lunch break, discriminated against because of your name, or threatened with immigration enforcement by a supervisor, the law is on your side and your employer may be liable for significant damages.

At Smith Reback Law, we represent employees across the full spectrum of national origin discrimination claims — from language policies and accent bias to immigration status retaliation. Your workplace rights do not depend on where you were born or what papers you carry. We are ready to fight for you.