California employers can be forgiven for spending much of their compliance time thinking about California law.

The Fair Employment and Housing Act. The Civil Rights Department. California wage and hour rules. California leave laws. California regulations that seem to multiply by the week.

So, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announces a new enforcement priority, some California employers may be tempted to think: “That’s federal. We operate in California.” That would be a mistake.

The EEOC is drawing renewed attention to what it describes as anti-American national origin bias. Its current guidance expressly states that Title VII protects American employees and applicants from national origin discrimination and harassment and prohibits practices such as preferring foreign workers or workers with a particular visa status over American workers and as potential discrimination.

California employers should be paying attention.

Federal Law Still Applies in California

California employers often focus on the FEHA because it reaches more employers and, in many areas, provides protections beyond federal law. The FEHA’s discrimination provisions generally apply to employers with five or more employees, while Title VII generally applies beginning at 15 employees.

But broader California protections do not replace federal law.

A California employer covered by Title VII must comply with both Title VII and the FEHA. And even when an employer is thinking primarily about California compliance, developments at the EEOC matter because they tell employers what the federal enforcement agency is looking for—and where workplace practices may be creating risk.

The EEOC’s current focus is a good example.

National Origin Protection Runs in Every Direction

The EEOC is reminding employers of a basic principle that sometimes gets lost in workplace training: national origin discrimination law does not protect only particular nationalities.

It protects all individuals from discrimination because of national origin, including Americans.

California law similarly prohibits discrimination and harassment based on national origin and ancestry.

That means employers should be concerned about statements such as:

• “Americans are lazy.”
• “Foreign workers work harder.”
• “American employees are entitled.”
• “Visa workers are easier to manage.”
• “We should hire them because they won’t complain about the hours.”

These comments can constitute more than workplace banter. They may become evidence that national origin—or assumptions closely associated with national origin—is influencing employment decisions.

California Employers Should Watch the Stereotypes

This is where the EEOC’s message has particular practical value.

Discrimination problems often begin not with a written policy, but with a stereotype.

A recruiter believes applicants from one country have a stronger work ethic. A leader thinks American workers expect too much money. Someone assumes visa workers will be more loyal. Another person believes employees from a particular culture are less likely to complain. These assumptions should not drive hiring, compensation, promotion, assignment, discipline, or termination decisions.

The EEOC specifically identifies beliefs about lower labor costs or supposedly better work ethic as insufficient reasons for preferring one national-origin group over another. It also warns about job advertisements expressing preferences such as “H-1B preferred” or “H-1B only.”

For California employers, the EEOC’s new focus should prompt a review not only of formal job postings, but also of what recruiters, staffing partners, and hiring leaders are saying behind the scenes.

Don’t Forget Harassment

The issue is not limited to hiring or other employment actions, of course.

National origin harassment is prohibited under both federal and California law. The EEOC explains that unlawful harassment may include offensive or derogatory remarks about a person’s national origin, ethnicity, or accent when the conduct becomes sufficiently severe or frequent.

California law separately prohibits workplace harassment based on national origin and ancestry. So, employers should apply the same standard consistently.

If repeated negative comments about Mexican, Indian, Filipino, Chinese, or Ukrainian employees would raise concerns, repeated negative comments about Americans should not be dismissed simply because the target group is different.

The focus must be on the actual conduct, and not whether the employer thinks the affected group is one that “normally” brings discrimination claims.

Look at Your California Training Through a Federal Lens

Most California employers already have policies prohibiting national origin discrimination. Almost all of them should be providing regular harassment-prevention training.

But this is a good time to look at the examples being used. If every discrimination example flows in only one direction, employees and leaders may develop an overly narrow view of what discrimination looks like.

Training should reinforce a simpler rule: Protected characteristics should not drive employment decisions. That principle applies regardless of who is affected.

Employers also should consider whether recruiters and hiring leaders understand the difference between legitimate questions about authorization to work in the United States and unlawful preferences based on national origin, citizenship-related assumptions, or visa status.

Those conversations can become risky quickly when someone moves from “Is this person legally authorized to work?” to “We prefer these workers because they are cheaper, harder working, or less likely to complain.”

Why California Employers Should Care About Washington

California employers sometimes view federal developments as secondary because California employment law is often more protective. But enforcement priorities matter.

They tell employers what government agencies are investigating, what fact patterns may draw scrutiny, and what workplace conduct deserves another look before it becomes a charge or lawsuit.

The EEOC’s anti-American bias initiative does not require California employers to reinvent their EEO programs.

It does require them to remember that federal law remains part of the compliance picture.

The Bottom Line

California employers should continue to take their cues from the FEHA and the Civil Rights Department, but they should not stop there.

Title VII still applies to covered California employers, and the EEOC’s current focus on anti-American bias provides a useful reminder that discrimination laws protect individuals, not a predetermined list of favored groups.

Review recruiting practices. Listen for stereotypes. Train leaders to recognize bias regardless of who is targeted. And make employment decisions based on qualifications, performance, conduct, and legitimate business considerations—not assumptions about where someone comes from.

In California, we have our own extensive set of employment laws. But that doesn’t mean employers can afford to ignore what the EEOC is telling us.