Pantoja

In this employment discrimination case, we are asked to decide whether the court erred in not allowing the jury to hear “me too” evidence, that is, evidence of the employer’s alleged gender bias in the form of harassing activity against women employees other than the plaintiff. Here, the me-too evidence related to harassing activity that occurred outside plaintiff’s presence and at times other than when plaintiff was employed. At issue is whether the court properly excluded this evidence as propensity or character evidence under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (a), or whether it should have been admitted as evidence of a discriminatory or biased intent or motive under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b).

We conclude that the evidence should have been admitted and the failure to do so was prejudicial. Consequently, the judgment entered upon the jury’s defense verdict must be reversed. In doing so, we fully recognize and agree that the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.) (FEHA) is not a civility code and is “ ‘not designed to rid the workplace of vulgarity.’ ” (Lyle v. Warner Brothers Television Productions (2006) 38…