Department of Fair Employment and Housing Sues Michaels Stores for Failure to File Pay Data Report

May 3, 2022

For Immediate Release

Contact: Fahizah Alim (916) 585-7076

Fahizah.alim@dfeh.ca.gov


Required Reports Are Key Tool in Fighting Gender and Racial Pay Discrimination

Sacramento – The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), California’s civil rights agency, today filed a petition against Michaels Stores to enforce a requirement that large employers report annually on the gender and ethnic and racial breakdowns in the job categories and pay of their employees. The company, a large retailers with multiple locations in California, failed to file the required certified report for 2020, which was due by March 31st, 2021.

The petition, filed in Alameda Superior Court by DFEH attorney Renée Paradis, is the first of its kind since the enactment of the pay data reporting requirement in 2020. California employers with more than 100 employees are required to file the annual reports, a requirement the Legislature imposed because pay discrimination is difficult to detect and address. The law allows DFEH to seek an order compelling any employer that fails to file a report to comply with the law and to pay any costs, including attorney’s fees.

According to the DFEH’s lawsuit, Michaels Stores has well over the number of employees that triggers the law’s requirement. Despite multiple notices of its failure to file over the past six months, the employer has yet filed a certified pay data report for reporting year 2020. The reports were originally due March 31st, 2021.

The DFEH is seeking an order requiring Michaels Stores to file its certified report within 30 days, to file by the deadline in future years, and to pay DFEH’s costs in bringing the actions.

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The DFEH is the state agency charged with enforcing California’s civil rights laws. The mission of the DFEH is to protect the people of California from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations and from hate violence and human trafficking. For more information, visit the DFEH’s web site at www.dfeh.ca.gov.


Communication Center: 800-884-1684 (voice), 800-700-2320 (TTY) or
California's Relay Service at 711 | contact.center@calcivilrights.ca.gov