In 2003, the Legislature amended the Califormnia Fair Employment and Housing Act [Cal. Gov. Code §12900 et seq. (FEHA)) to state that employers are potentially liable when third party nonemployees (e.g., the employer’s client's or customers) sexually harass their employees. (Stats. 2003, ch. 671, § 2, amending § 12940, subd. (j)(1).)
A California Appellate Court has now found that the 2003 amendment to Section 12940, subdivision (j)(1), simply clarified existing law by providing explicit standards to govern employer liability for sexual harassment of employees that nonemployees commit. Therefore, §12940(J)(1) may be properly applied to an action which was already in court at the time the Legislature amended the statute. [See Carter v. California Dep't of Veterans Affairs, No S127921 (Cal. June 08, 2006)].
