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Gov. Code, § 12962 · Article 1. Unlawful Practices

Gov. Code, § 12962

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) The department shall cause any verified complaint filed for investigation under the provisions of this part to be served upon the person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency alleged to have committed the unlawful practice complained of in any of the following ways:

(1) In the manner specified in Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(2) In the manner specified in Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(3) In the manner specified in Section 1010.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(4) In any other manner specified in the Code of Civil Procedure.

(5) Personally.

(6) By certified mail with return receipt requested.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice hires or retains private counsel for purposes of representation of the claim, the private counsel, and not the department, shall cause the verified complaint filed under the provisions of this part to be served upon the person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency alleged to have committed the unlawful practice in any of the following ways:

(1) In the manner specified in Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(2) In the manner specified in Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(3) In the manner specified in Section 1010.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(4) In any other manner specified in the Code of Civil Procedure.

(5) Personally.

(6) By certified mail with return receipt requested.

(c) Service shall be made at the time of initial contact with the person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency or the agents thereof, or within 60 days, whichever first occurs. At the discretion of the director, the complaint may not contain the name of the complaining party unless the complaint is filed by the director or the director’s authorized representative.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 278, Sec. 5. (SB 807) Effective January 1, 2022.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12962.
Text hash
sha256 09674114804c3c5186954daf78d0b45e2c737cf30549e578481535e77a1e6f22
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compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.