Procedural Requirements Under FEHA
Plaintiff filed a DFEH complaint, received a right-to-sue letter, and timely filed a complaint in state court. Her employer demurred to the complaint, claiming that plaintiff had not timely served it with a copy of the administrative complaint within sixty days (although she had timely served a copy of her state court complaint). The trial court sustained the demurrer, but the appeals court granted plaintiff's petition for a peremptory writ of mandate. The court concluded that the 2003 amendment to the FEHA (Cal. Gov't Code ยง 12962) only requires an employee to serve her administrative complaint on her employer when (a) it is filed for investigation (instead of seeking an immediate right-to-sue), and (b) when the complainant is represented by counsel. Wasti v. Superior Ct. (Ezratty), 2006 DJDAR 7638 (4th Dist., June 20, 2006).