The words, behaviors or conduct must be unwelcome and offensive to the employee. The words, behaviors or conduct are generally part of a workplace situation where:

(1) acceptance or rejection of it by the employee will impact his/her employment; or
(2) it unreasonably interferes with the employee's work/creates a "hostile" (i.e. offensive) work environment.

(1) by either sex, against the opposite sex or the same sex;
(2) In the workplace, or away from the workplace while on company business or at a function that is quasi-company business; and/or
(3) by a supervisor, a co-worker, or an agent of the employer.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 12940 ET. SEQ.

12940. It shall be an unlawful employment practice, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification...

(a) For an employer, because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, or sex of any person, to refuse to hire or employ the person or to refuse to select the person for a training program leading to employment, or to bar or to discharge the person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against the person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.

(1) Nothing in this part shall prohibit an employer from refusing to hire or discharging an employee with a physical or mental disability, or subject an employer to any legal liability resulting from the refusal to employ or the discharge of an employee with a physical or mental disability, where the employee, because of his or her physical or mental disability, is unable to perform his or her essential duties even with reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties in a manner that would not endanger his or her health or safety or the health and safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.
(2) Nothing in this part shall prohibit an employer from refusing to hire or discharging an employee who, because of the employee's medical condition, is unable to perform his or her essential duties even with reasonable accommodations, or cannot perform those duties in a manner that would not endanger the employee's health or safety or the health or safety of others even with reasonable accommodations.... ***

(c) For any person to discriminate against any person in the selection or training of that person in any apprenticeship training program or any other training program leading to employment because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, or sex of the person discriminated against.

(d) For any employer or employment agency... to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any publication, or to make any non-job-related inquiry, either verbal or through use of an application form, which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, or sex , or any intent to make that limitation, specification or discrimination. Except as provided in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto, nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit any employer from making, in connection with prospective employment, an inquiry as to, or a request for information regarding, the physical fitness, medical condition, physical condition, or medical history of applicants if that inquiry or request for information is directly related and pertinent to the position the applicant is applying for or directly related to a determination of whether the applicant would endanger his or her health or safety or the health or safety of others.
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(f) For any employer, labor organization, employment agency, or person to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under this part or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this part.

(g) For any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any of the acts forbidden under this part, or to attempt to do so.

(h)

(1) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program or any training program leading to employment, or any other person, because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex , or age, to harass an employee or applicant. Harassment of an employee or applicant by an employee other than an agent or supervisor shall be unlawful if the entity, or its agents or supervisors, knows or should have known of this conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. An entity shall take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring. Loss of tangible job benefits shall not be necessary in order to establish harassment.
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(C) For purposes of this subdivision, "harassment" because of sex includes sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
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(i) For an employer, labor organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program, or any training program leading to employment, to fail to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring.
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(k) For an employer or other entity covered by this part to fail to make reasonable accommodation for the known physical or mental disability of an applicant or employee. Nothing in this subdivision or in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall be construed to require an accommodation that is demonstrated by the employer or other covered entity to produce undue hardship to its operation.... ***

12950. In addition to employer responsibilities set forth in subdivisions (h) and (i) of Section 12940 and in rules adopted by the department and the commission, every employer shall act to ensure a workplace free of sexual harassment by implementing the following minimum requirements:

(a) The department shall amend its current poster on discrimination in employment to include information relating to the illegality of sexual harassment. This amended poster shall be distributed to employers when the supply of the current poster is exhausted. One copy of the amended poster shall be provided by the department to an employer upon request. The amended poster shall be available at each office of the department, and shall be mailed if the request includes a self-addressed envelope with postage affixed. Multiple copies of the amended poster shall be obtained through the Office of Documents and Publications of the Department of General Services. Each employer shall post the amended poster in a prominent and accessible location in the workplace.

(b) Each employer shall obtain from the department its information sheet on sexual harassment, which the department shall make available to employers for reproduction and distribution to employees. One copy of the information sheet shall be provided by the department to an employer upon request. The information sheets shall be available at each office of the department, and shall be mailed if the request includes a self-addressed envelope with postage affixed. Multiple copies of the information sheet shall be obtained through the Office of Documents and Publications of the Department of General Services. Each employer shall distribute this information sheet to its employees, unless the employer provides equivalent information to its employees that contains, at a minimum, components on the following:
(1) The illegality of sexual harassment.
(2) The definition of sexual harassment under applicable state and federal law.
(3) A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples.
(4) The internal complaint process of the employer available to the employee.
(5) The legal remedies and complaint process available through the department and the commission.
(6) Directions on how to contact the department and the commission.
(7) The protection against retaliation provided by Section 7287.8 of Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations for opposing the practices prohibited by this article or for filing a complaint with, or otherwise participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted by, the department or the commission.

(c) The information sheet or information required to be distributed to employees pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be delivered in a manner that ensures distribution to each employee, such as including the information sheet or information with an employee's pay.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (h) and (i) of Section 12940, a claim that the information sheet or information required to be distributed pursuant to this section did not reach a particular individual or individuals shall not in and of itself result in the liability of any employer to any present or former employee or applicant in any action alleging sexual harassment. Conversely, an employer's compliance with this section does not insulate the employer from liability for sexual harassment of any current or former employee or applicant.

(e) If an employer violates the requirements of this section, the commission shall issue an order requiring the employer to comply with these requirements.

TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, AS AMENDED
42 USC SECTION 2000e ET. SEQ.

SEC. 2000e.
For the purposes of this subchapter:

(a)***

(b) The term ``employer'' means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year...
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(f) The term ``employee'' means an individual employed by an employer, except that the term ``employee'' shall not include any person elected to public office in any State or political subdivision of any State by the qualified voters thereof, or any person chosen by such officer to be on such officer's personal staff...
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(j) The term ``religion'' includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business.

(k) The terms ``because of sex'' or ``on the basis of sex'' include, but are not limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work... ***

SEC. 2000e-2.

(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer -

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex , or national origin.

(b) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
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(d) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs to discriminate against any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex , or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide apprenticeship or other training.

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(k) (1) (A) An unlawful employment practice based on disparate impact is established under this title only if-

(i) a complaining party demonstrates that a respondent uses a particular employment practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and the respondent fails to demonstrate that the challenged practice is job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity; or
(ii) the complaining party makes the demonstration described in subparagraph (C) with respect to an alternative employment practice and the respondent refuses to adopt such alternative employment practice.

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(l) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a respondent, in connection with the selection or referral of applicants or candidates for employment or promotion, to adjust the scores of, use different cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of, employment related tests on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(m) Except as otherwise provided in this title, an unlawful employment practice is established when the complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice.

SEC. 2000e-3.

(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on­the­job training programs, to discriminate against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant for membership, because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter, or because he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter.
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