Depart. of Fair Employment and Housing v. Super. Ct.

I. BACKGROUND

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the state administrative agency responsible for enforcing employment discrimination laws, brought this action against Cisco Systems, Inc., for employment discrimination based on caste. The Department’s complaint alleges an engineer employed by Cisco was treated unfavorably by two supervisors because he is from the lowest caste (Dalit) under the traditional caste system of India. The Department sued under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which allows it to bring a civil action on behalf of an employee affected by discrimination. (See Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (a)(1).) In such an action, the Department is the plaintiff and the employee is the real party in interest. (Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (a)(3).) The employee was concerned about further mistreatment, even violence, against him and his family if his lower caste status were publicly revealed. He asked that the Department not use his name in legal filings and that his identity be protected from disclosure in court proceedings. The Department moved for an order allowing the employee to proceed in the action under a fictitious name. It supported the motion with…