Sexual Orientation

Employees in California are protected from employment discrimination based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation.¹ “Sexual orientation” is defined as “heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.”²

Federal Title VII bars sex and gender discrimination in employment but doesn’t explicitly prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation as California law does. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled that any employment decision based, at least in part, on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes unlawful discrimination under Title VII.³