You experienced something at work, in housing, or in a business that crossed a line. Maybe it was discrimination. Maybe it was harassment. Maybe it was a civil rights violation that you replayed in your head for weeks before you decided you wanted it on the record.
The DFEH — now the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) — is the right starting point. You do not need an attorney to file. But the intake process trips up self-filers who do not know what the agency is looking for, what deadlines are running, and how to frame an incident so it actually gets investigated instead of closed for "insufficient information."
This guide walks through it.
What Is DFEH/CRD and Who Can File
In July 2022, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) was renamed the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). Same agency, same enforcement authority, new name. Many people still call it DFEH out of habit, and the agency's portal still recognizes both.
CRD enforces the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), codified at Government Code § 12900 et seq. It investigates complaints involving:
- Employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation
- Housing discrimination
- Discrimination by business establishments (the Unruh Civil Rights Act)
- Hate violence (the Ralph Civil Rights Act)
- Interference with civil rights through threats or coercion (the Bane Act)
Any person who experienced a covered violation in California can file. You do not need to be a citizen. You do not need to be currently employed by the respondent. You do not need an attorney. The CRD's intake process is built for self-represented complainants.
Key Deadlines You Must Know
Deadlines are the most common way self-filed civil rights complaints die — not on the merits, but on the calendar.
For most FEHA claims, you generally have three years from the last act of discrimination to file with CRD. That window was extended from one year to three years by SB 807 in 2020, and it applies to claims arising after January 1, 2020. Housing claims have their own shorter window — typically one year — so check the rules for your specific claim type. The filing deadline rules are in Government Code § 12960.
If your claim also involves federal law — Title VII, ADA, ADEA — the EEOC has a much shorter window: 300 days from the last act of discrimination in California (a deferral state). Cross-filing with both agencies, through the DFEH/EEOC worksharing agreement, protects both timelines at once.
Missing the deadline usually ends your case. File before you think you need to.
Step-by-Step: Filing a CRD Complaint
Here is the path most self-filers will take. Plan an hour for the intake form — more if your timeline is long.
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Gather your documentation. Pull every email, text, voicemail, written warning, schedule, photo, performance review, and witness contact you have. Note the date of each incident, who was present, and what was said. Build a single chronological timeline before you touch the portal. If evidence might disappear (a Slack archive, a manager's email), save copies now.
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Go to CRD's online portal. The current intake portal lives at calcivilrights.ca.gov. You can also file by mail or in person, but the portal is faster and gives you a tracking record.
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Complete the intake questionnaire. You will be asked to describe the incident, name the respondent (the employer, landlord, or business — use the legal entity name, not the brand), identify the protected basis (race, gender, disability, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, family or marital status, military or veteran status, and others), and provide the dates and locations. Be specific. Vague intake forms are the ones that get closed quickly.
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Submit. You will receive a case number and, in most cases, an intake counselor will be assigned to your file. Save the case number and confirmation email somewhere you will find them six months from now.
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Request DFEH/EEOC cross-filing at intake. If your claim has any federal component, ask the intake counselor in writing to cross-file with the EEOC under the worksharing agreement. This protects your federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e (Title VII) without you having to file a separate EEOC charge.
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Wait for the right-to-sue letter if you plan to file a civil lawsuit. A right-to-sue notice from CRD is what allows you to take the matter to court. You can request an immediate right-to-sue notice at intake if you intend to file in civil court rather than have CRD investigate.
Common Mistakes Self-Filers Make
These are the ones intake counselors see again and again:
- Vague incident descriptions. "My manager was hostile" does not investigate. "On March 14, 2025, at 3:15 p.m., in the back office, [Name] said [exact words], in front of [Witness]" does.
- Wrong respondent name. If the company you work for is "ABC Holdings LLC dba SunnyMart," your respondent is the LLC, not "SunnyMart." A wrong legal entity name can stall the entire investigation.
- Missing the worksharing cross-file request. Self-filers routinely lose their federal claim because they assumed filing with CRD covered EEOC. It does not — you have to request the cross-file.
- Not preserving evidence before filing. Once a complaint is filed, the respondent often locks down access. Save what you have now.
- Assuming filing equals winning. Filing opens the case. It does not prove it. The strength of your complaint shapes the strength of the investigation.
What a Properly Prepared Complaint Looks Like
The complaints that move are the ones intake counselors do not have to rewrite. They have a structured chronological narrative. They name the legal entity correctly. They identify the protected basis explicitly. They cite the statutory framework (FEHA, Title VII, the relevant section). They list corroborating evidence — emails, witnesses, dated documents — instead of asking the agency to go looking.
The vague one-paragraph complaints intake counselors see every day get closed for insufficient information. The structured ones get investigated.
That is the difference document preparation makes.
Get the Templates Built for This
The Civil Rights Complaint Packet — Federal & CA Edition gives you properly formatted, statute-cited templates for the entire landscape: DFEH/CRD, EEOC, Bane Act, ADA, police misconduct, HUD, federal § 1983 pre-litigation demands, and the Government Tort Claim Notice under Gov't Code § 910 that's required before suing most California public entities. Everything organized so your complaint lands the way it should — the first time.
Get the Civil Rights Complaint Packet — $169 →
Bigfirmlit is a non-attorney document preparation service registered under California Business and Professions Code § 6400. We prepare self-help documents — we do not provide legal advice or represent clients.