Marital Status Discrimination

Employment Law

Marital Status Discrimination Under California Law

Most people are surprised to learn that their employer’s interest in their personal relationships can cross a legal line. In California, marital status is a protected characteristic under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which means your employer cannot use your relationship status as a factor in hiring, firing, promotions, compensation, or any other term or condition of employment. At The Law Offices of Farris Ain, we have seen employers make assumptions about employees based on whether they are married, single, divorced, or widowed—and we hold them accountable when those assumptions lead to discrimination.

FEHA Protections for Marital Status

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Government Code section 12940, expressly prohibits employment discrimination based on marital status. This protection applies to employers with five or more employees and covers every aspect of the employment relationship, from job postings and interviews through termination and post-employment references.

Under Government Code section 12926(p), marital status is broadly defined to include “an individual’s state of marriage, non-marriage, divorce or dissolution, separation, widowhood, annulment, or other marital state.” This means California law protects you regardless of whether you are:

• Single and never married
• Married or in a domestic partnership
• Divorced or going through a dissolution
• Legally separated
• Widowed
• In any other recognized marital state, including annulment

Common Examples of Marital Status Discrimination

Marital status discrimination can be overt or subtle. In our practice, we have represented employees who experienced a range of discriminatory conduct, including:

• Termination based on spousal employment: Being fired or not hired because your spouse works for a competitor, client, or vendor—even when there is no actual conflict of interest.
• Discriminatory anti-nepotism policies: Company policies that prohibit married couples from working together, applied in a way that disproportionately harms one spouse (often the woman) while failing to serve a legitimate business purpose.
• Assumptions about commitment or availability: Employers assuming that married employees with families are less available for travel, overtime, or relocation, or conversely that single employees have no obligations outside of work.
• Penalizing for a spouse’s conduct: Taking adverse action against an employee because of something their spouse said or did, including on social media.
• Denial of benefits: Refusing to extend spousal benefits or treating employees differently based on whether they are married.
• Stereotyping: Treating divorced employees as “unstable” or assuming widowed employees are too distracted to perform their job duties.
• Harassment: Persistent comments, jokes, or intrusive questions about an employee’s personal relationships or marital status.

Intersection with Pregnancy and Sex Discrimination

Marital status discrimination frequently overlaps with other protected categories, particularly sex and gender discrimination and pregnancy discrimination. For example, an employer who treats a pregnant unmarried employee differently from a pregnant married employee may be engaging in both marital status and pregnancy discrimination. Similarly, anti-nepotism policies that consistently result in the female spouse being the one forced to resign raise both marital status and sex discrimination claims.

California courts recognize that these intersecting forms of discrimination can compound the harm to employees, and filing claims under multiple protected categories can strengthen a case significantly.

Proving a Marital Status Discrimination Claim

To establish a marital status discrimination claim under FEHA, you generally need to show:

1. You belong to a protected class (you have a marital status—which everyone does)
2. You were performing your job competently
3. You suffered an adverse employment action (termination, demotion, denial of promotion, reduction in hours, etc.)
4. Your marital status was a motivating factor in the adverse action

Evidence can include direct statements by supervisors or managers about your marital status, disparate treatment compared to employees with a different marital status, suspicious timing between disclosure of a change in marital status and the adverse action, or a pattern of similarly situated employees being treated differently based on their relationship status. Under FEHA’s burden-shifting framework, once you establish a prima facie case, the employer must articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the action—and you then have the opportunity to show that reason is pretextual.

Available Remedies Under FEHA

Employees who prevail in marital status discrimination claims may recover:

• Back pay: Lost wages and benefits from the date of discrimination to the date of judgment
• Front pay: Future lost earnings when reinstatement is impractical
• Compensatory damages: Compensation for emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish
• Punitive damages: Additional damages to punish employers for particularly egregious or malicious conduct
• Attorney’s fees and costs: Reimbursement of legal expenses
• Injunctive relief: Court orders requiring the employer to change discriminatory policies or practices
• Reinstatement: Return to your former position, where appropriate

Under FEHA, there is no cap on damages, and individual supervisors can be held personally liable for harassment based on marital status.

“Your personal relationships are none of your employer’s business. If they made employment decisions based on your marital status, that is illegal.”