California Civil Rights Department (formerly DFEH)

The final meeting of the year included procedures for closed captioning and establishing the quorum. Key discussion centered on an informational presentation by Donald Whitehead Jr., Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, detailing two decades (2002-2022) of hate, violence, and hate crimes against unhoused Americans. The presentation highlighted that official counts are severe undercounts, noting increases in violence, serial perpetrators, and incidents involving law enforcement. Discussions also covered the vicious cycle of homeless policy, the correlation between negative rhetoric/criminalization ordinances and increased violence (noting spikes in Oregon and Florida), and policy goals such as pushing for the reversal of criminalization practices and ensuring housing is treated as a human right. Legal efforts to challenge new federal funding requirements that seem to incentivize criminalization were mentioned.

The meeting agenda focused on reviewing and considering modified text for proposed housing and employment regulations. Key discussions included proposed text changes regarding harassment liability, retaliation, disability accommodations, discriminatory effect, discriminatory land-use practices, and the use of criminal history information in housing regulations. Employment regulations modifications addressed national origin discrimination. Reports were scheduled from subcommittees handling public civil rights hearings and age and religious discrimination in employment. Additionally, the council reviewed recently chaptered legislation, including bills related to tenant protection for undocumented immigrants, the ban the Box law, expansion of the California Family Rights Act, collection of demographic information on sexual orientation, and prohibiting state agencies from sharing religious affiliation information with the federal government. A report from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing highlighted procedural changes, including a simplified one-stage appeals process and the housing of the Public Records Act request unit within Executive Programs.

The thirty-first meeting of the Council was called to order amidst initial difficulties with the live stream. Key discussions included consideration of additional modifications to the fair housing regulations, and review of text related to the criminal history California Family Rights Act and new parent leave Act regulations. Updates were provided by various rulemaking and Civil Rights hearing subcommittees. The council received an update regarding employment regulations on religious creed and age discrimination, noting the initial statement of reasons was submitted and a hearing was scheduled. Significant discussion focused on the Hate Violence and Potential Hearings subcommittee report, with consensus to begin drafting regulations under the Ralph and Unruh Acts, particularly addressing hate violence in public accommodations, and planning for community hearings in locations such as the Inland Empire and the Bay Area. Additionally, the council addressed non-substantive changes made by the Office of Administrative Law to the employment regulations concerning definitions, harassment, discrimination prevention, correction, and training, specifically regarding the definition of 'regularly employing' an employee, with a request to reconvene a subcommittee to review these changes.

The meeting included discussions on data updates related to hate incidents in California, highlighting that a significant percentage of Californians have directly experienced hate. The commission reviewed statistics on hate incidents, including the disproportionate impact on adolescents and the prevalence of race-based targeting. The commission also addressed federal legislation aimed at improving reporting and combating hate on campuses. The meeting touched on the importance of distinguishing between peaceful protests and extremist acts of violence, emphasizing the role of psychological distress and mental health services in understanding extremist behavior.

The 29th meeting of the Council focused on several regulatory matters. Key discussions involved considering modified text to proposed employment regulations concerning definitions, harassment and discrimination prevention, correction, and training. Further modifications to proposed housing regulations were also considered. Additionally, the Council held a discussion regarding hate violence issues. Department reports included the launch of an employer resources tab on the website and the submission of a report to the Governor's office analyzing the feasibility of lifting legal preemption on the enforcement of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The subcommittee report on employment regulations detailed changes such as clarifying definitions for counting employees to ensure consistency, adding reference to peer-to-peer trainers to lower entry barriers for qualified advocates, and retaining unpaid interns and volunteers in the definition of employees for the purpose of supervisor training requirements.