California Fair Employment and Housing Act: enforcement procedures.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based upon specified characteristics or status. The FEHA makes certain discriminatory employment and housing practices unlawful, and authorizes a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice to file a verified complaint with the department. The FEHA requires the department to make an investigation in connection with a filed complaint alleging facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the FEHA, and requires the department to endeavor to eliminate the unlawful practice by conference, conciliation, and persuasion. Existing law authorizes a complaint to be filed by an aggrieved person or the department on behalf and as representative of a group or class if the alleged unlawful practice adversely affects, in a similar manner, a group or class of persons of which the aggrieved person is a member.
California SB 477 (20252026) — California Fair Employment and Housing Act: enforcement procedures.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based upon specified characteristics or status. The FEHA makes certain discriminatory employment and housing practices unlawful, and authorizes a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice to file a verified complaint with the department. The FEHA requires the department to make an investigation in connection with a filed complaint alleging facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the FEHA, and requires the department to endeavor to eliminate the unlawful practice by conference, conciliation, and persuasion. Existing law authorizes a complaint to be filed by an aggrieved person or the department on behalf and as representative of a group or class if the alleged unlawful practice adversely affects, in a similar manner, a group or class of persons of which the aggrieved person is a member.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
SB 477 Blakespear Senate Third Reading By Bryan — 59–19 (pass) · lower
Placed on suspense file — 7–0 (pass) · upper
3rd Reading — 28–10 (pass) · upper
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 11–2 (pass) · upper
Do pass — 5–1 (pass) · upper
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 9–2 (pass) · lower
Sponsors
Blakespear — primary (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
2025-02-19 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
2025-02-20 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 22.
2025-02-26 Referred to Com. on RLS. referral-committee
2025-03-26 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee
2025-04-02 Re-referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2025-04-04 Set for hearing April 22.
2025-04-23 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 2. Page 835.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
2025-04-25 Set for hearing May 5.
2025-05-05 May 5 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-16 Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-23 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1201.) (May 23). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-23 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
2025-05-28 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 1290.) Ordered to the Assembly. passage, reading-1, reading-3
2025-05-28 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
2025-06-05 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2025-06-17 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 2.) (June 17). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
2025-07-02 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 10. Noes 4.) (July 2). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
2025-07-03 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
2025-09-09 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 59. Noes 19. Page 3064.) Ordered to the Senate. passage, reading-1, reading-3
2025-09-10 In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
2025-09-17 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
2025-10-03 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
2025-10-03 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 321, Statutes of 2025. became-law
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/e4112629-12ae-40f1-81d6-b14a818e4964. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).
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