California Shields Good-Faith Bias Mitigation Training From Discrimination Claims

Authority

Cal. Legislature

Citation

Stats. 2025, ch. 216

Effective Date

January 1, 2026

Senate Bill 303, introduced by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, adds Government Code section 12940.2 to provide that an employee’s good-faith assessment, testing, admission, or acknowledgment of their own personal bias, when solicited or required as part of a bias mitigation training, does not, by itself, constitute unlawful discrimination. The measure was chaptered on October 1, 2025, and takes effect January 1, 2026.

Background

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits various forms of employment and housing discrimination, including discrimination because of national origin, and empowers the Civil Rights Department to investigate and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful practices.

Bias mitigation trainings often ask participants to assess or acknowledge their own conscious and unconscious biases. SB 303 responds to uncertainty about whether such disclosures, made during training, could themselves be treated as evidence of unlawful discrimination. The bill adds Government Code section 12940.2 to address that question directly.

What the Law Changes

Section 12940.2 provides that, notwithstanding any other law, an employee’s assessment, testing, admission, or acknowledgment of their own personal bias, made in good faith and solicited or required as part of a bias mitigation training, does not, by itself, constitute unlawful discrimination.

The statute defines “bias mitigation training” as bias mitigation or elimination training, education, and activities that an employer provides to educate employees on understanding, recognizing, or acknowledging the influence of conscious and unconscious thought processes and their impacts. Such training must include specific strategies to mitigate the impact of employees’ personal biases.

The statute states that “specific strategies” include, but are not limited to, assessing or testing for personal bias, analyzing bias assessments or tests, conducting bias training, conducting workshops, using toolkits, and tracking bias mitigation and elimination.

Stated Legislative Intent

Section 12940.2 also records the Legislature’s intent to encourage employers to conduct bias mitigation trainings and to affirm that conducting such a training does not, by itself, constitute unlawful discrimination. SB 303 passed on a majority vote and contains no urgency clause, so it follows the January 1 effective-date rule.