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Civil Rights Department cites Grimway Farms decision, AI employment rules effective Oct. 1 and outreach for United Against Hate Week
Summary
At the Civil Rights Council meeting the department reported a favorable decision in its Grimway Farms disability-discrimination case, said new FEHA rules for automated employment decision systems took effect Oct. 1, and announced United Against Hate Week events Oct. 9–25.
The California Civil Rights Department told the Civil Rights Council on Oct. 25 that a decision in a long-running disability-discrimination case against Grimway Farms allows the department to seek damages and moves the matter forward in enforcement. Rachel Langston, Assistant Chief Counsel of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, said the department had brought the case in 2021 and the decision found discrimination by Grimway for automatically placing disabled workers on unpaid leave when other reasonable accommodations were available.
Langston also reported that new regulations applying the Fair Employment and Housing Act to automated decision systems used by employers were accepted by the Office of Administrative Law and became effective Oct. 1. “Those were accepted by OAL, and they've gone into effect now. As of October 1, they are effective,” Langston said, and she urged stakeholders to subscribe to department outreach for guidance and future trainings.
Separately, the department announced outreach for United Against Hate Week, scheduled Oct. 9 through Oct. 25, and referenced an events calendar at unitedagainsthateweek.org. Langston noted an Oct. 22 presentation on the Ralph Civil Rights Act as one example of the events planned.
Julia Parrish, Deputy Director of Legislation, Regulation, and Policy, and department staff said the department will continue implementation and enforcement work connected to the new automated-decision-system rules and will provide trainings and guidance as available. Parrish and Langston urged interested parties to subscribe to department updates for release dates and outreach opportunities.
The department also provided an administrative update that the council's separate conflict-of-interest code in section 11,005 of Title II of the California Code of Regulations had been submitted for repeal to the Office of Administrative Law and accepted; the repeal had not yet taken effect as of the meeting.
The department framed the Grimway Farms decision, the AI-related FEHA regulations, and the outreach events as parts of its ongoing enforcement and public-education work. No new enforcement outcomes (damages awarded or settlement amounts) were reported at the meeting.
