J. E. ROBINSON, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. FAIR EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING COMMISSION, Defendant and Appellant.
No. S019095
Supreme Court of California
Mar. 16, 1992.
226 Cal. 3d 226
John K. Van de Kamp and Daniel E. Lungren, Attorneys General, Andrea Sheridan Oridan, Nelson Kempsky and Roderick E. Walston, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Carole Ritts Kornblum, Assistant Attorney General, Marian M. Johnston, Louis Verdugo, Jr., and Henry Torres, Jr., Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendant and Appellant.
Patricia A. Shui, Catherine K. Ruckelshaus and Abby J. Leibman as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.
Grace E. Emery for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Bernard L. Allamano and Alice L. Ramsey as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
BAXTER, J.—We are asked to construe
The particular focus of our inquiry is the meaning of the statutory term “regularly employing” as applied to a person who has more than five employees, but has as many as five of them working on only two days of each week. An FEHC regulation defines “regularly employing” as “employing five or more individuals for each working day in any twenty consecutive calendar weeks in the current calendar year or preceding calendar year.” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 7286.5, subd. (a)(1).) (Regulation 7286.5.)
Plaintiff, assuming that Regulation 7286.5 establishes the jurisdiction of the FEHC, argues that under that definition he is not subject to FEHC jurisdiction. Discriminatory practices declared to be unlawful by
The Court of Appeal, accepting the reasoning of the FEHC, concluded that the number of persons on the payroll, not the number working on any particular day, is determinative of the number of employees an employer regularly employs. We agree and reject plaintiff‘s further argument that Regulation 7286.5 did not give him notice that he was subject to FEHC jurisdiction. We therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
I.
This litigation arises out of the refusal of plaintiff, a dentist, to reinstate Josephine Saul as a dental assistant after her six-week pregnancy leave terminated on February 21, 1984. At that time, plaintiff employed a receptionist and two dental assistants, each of whom worked five days per week. He also employed three dental hygienists who worked part time: one worked four days a week, one worked two days a week, and one worked only on
Saul filed a complaint with the FEHC charging that plaintiff‘s refusal to reinstate her as a dental assistant following her pregnancy leave was an unlawful practice under
Plaintiff had stipulated that he had five or more employees on his payroll for at least twenty consecutive calendar weeks in 1983 and 1984, but argued that the FEHC lacked jurisdiction over him because some of the employees worked part time and were not physically present in his office on each working day during those weeks.
Plaintiff sought review of the FEHC ruling by a petition for writ of administrative mandamus (
There being no prior case construing the term “regularly employing,” the parties and the courts below relied on Regulation 7286.5 which was adopted
The FEHC has asserted jurisdiction when an employer has five or more persons on the payroll for each working day, and includes part-time employees—i.e., those who work less than a full shift and those who do not work each day. (Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Bee Hive Answering Service (1984) No. 84-16, FEHC Precedential Decs. 1984-85, CEB 8, pp. 12-13; Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Travel Express (1983) No. 83-17, FEHC Precedential Decs. 1982-83, CEB 16, pp. 3-5.)
The Court of Appeal considered these decisions significant in the proper construction of
The Court of Appeal also noted that while Title VII defines employer as a “person . . . who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year . . . .” (
Finally, the court reasoned that a broad reading of
II.
Plaintiff does not dispute that
The dispositive question, however, is whether the FEHC assertion of jurisdiction over plaintiff is authorized by
A. Construction of Section 12926(c) .
The statutory term “regularly employing” is susceptible of more than one interpretation. Therefore, the court will look to the legislative history of the FEHA (Title Ins. & Trust Co. v. County of Riverside (1989) 48 Cal.3d 84, 96 [255 Cal.Rptr. 670, 767 P.2d 1148]) and to administrative construction reasonably contemporaneous with the law‘s adoption in order to ascertain the intent of the Legislature in using the phrase. (City of Los Angeles v. Public Utilities Com. (1975) 15 Cal.3d 680, 696 [125 Cal.Rptr. 779, 542 P.2d 1371]; Wotton v. Bush (1953) 41 Cal.2d 460, 466 [261 P.2d 256].) “Consistent administrative construction of a statute over many years, particularly when it originated with those charged with putting the statutory machinery into effect, is entitled to great weight and will not be overturned unless clearly erroneous.” (DiGiorgio Fruit Corp. v. Dept. of Employment (1961) 56 Cal.2d 54, 61-62 [13 Cal.Rptr. 663, 362 P.2d 487].) In construing a statute the court will also consider the purpose of the law and adopt a construction which will further that purpose. (Brown v. Superior Court (1984) 37 Cal.3d 477, 485 [208 Cal.Rptr. 724, 691 P.2d 272].)
The intent of the Legislature when it used the limiting phrase “regularly employing” in the definition of employer is crucial since a regulation which is inconsistent with the statute it seeks to implement is invalid. (Mooney v. Pickett (1971) 4 Cal.3d 669, 679 [94 Cal.Rptr. 279, 483 P.2d 1231]; Morris v. Williams (1967) 67 Cal.2d 733, 748 [63 Cal.Rptr. 689, 433 P.2d 697]; Steilberg v. Lackner (1977) 69 Cal.App.3d 780, 789 [138 Cal.Rptr. 378].) In this case, the proper
In 1980, the FEHC succeeded to the powers of the Fair Employment Practices Commission.8 At that time the Fair Employment Practices Act, then part 4.5 of the Labor Code, was repealed and reenacted as part of the FEHA.9 That part of the definition of employer which is in dispute here was taken verbatim from subdivision (d) of former section 1413 of the Labor Code, where it had existed unamended since the adoption of the Fair Employment Practices Act in 1959. (Stats. 1959, ch. 121, § 1, p. 2000.) In the absence of legislative history suggesting otherwise, there is a very strong presumption that the Legislature intends that the same construction be given statutory language which has been readopted without change. (Buchwald v. Katz (1972) 8 Cal.3d 493, 502 [105 Cal.Rptr. 368, 503 P.2d 1376]; Union Oil Associates v. Johnson (1935) 2 Cal.2d 727, 734-735 [43 P.2d 291, 98 A.L.R. 1499]. See also, Lab. Code, § 2.)
Fair employment legislation was first proposed in California in 1943.10 The fair employment bill which is the forerunner of the present law was introduced on January 9, 1945, as Assembly Bill No. 3 (Assem. Bill No. 3 (1945 Reg. Sess.)) and was reintroduced in each odd-numbered year thereafter until passage of the Fair Employment Practices Act in 1959. (See Tobriner, California FEPC (1965) 16 Hastings L.J. 333-334 [hereafter Tobriner].)
In addition, an initiative, “Fair Employment Practices Act,” was on the ballot in 1946 as Proposition 11, but was defeated by the voters. The definition of an employer as a person “regularly employing” five or more persons can be traced at least to Assembly Bill No. 3 and to that initiative measure. Both would have established the California Fair Employment Practices Act and a State Fair Employment Practices Commission, and both used the term “regularly employing.”
Paragraph 4 of section 4 of Assembly Bill No. 3 read: “The term ‘employer,’ except as hereinafter provided includes any person regularly employing five or more persons or any person acting in the interest of such employer, directly or indirectly, with or without his knowledge; the State or any political or civil subdivision thereof and cities.
“The term ‘employer’ does not include a social club, fraternal, charitable, educational or religious association, or corporation not organized for private profit.
“This act shall not apply to or affect any farmer, agricultural organization, agricultural cooperative association, or agriculture in any form or manner.” (Assem. Bill No. 3, supra, p. 2.)
Paragraph 4 of section 11 in the law proposed by the 1946 Fair Employment Practices Act initiative read: “The term ‘employer’ includes the State
Contemporary understanding of the term “regularly employing” is reflected in the argument in favor of the initiative which stated both that “[e]mployment situations in which fewer than five persons are involved are exempted by the proposition” and noted: “This is no new law. It is already operating successfully in many States, including New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.” (Ballot Pamp., analysis of Prop. 11 as presented to voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1946) pt. I, p. 11.)
New York had enacted the first state legislation outlawing discrimination in housing and establishing the New York State Commission Against Discrimination, the Ives-Quinn Law, on March 12, 1945. (1945 N.Y. Laws, ch. 118.) It has been suggested that the California Fair Employment Practices Act was patterned on that New York law. (Norgren & Hill, Toward Fair Employment (1964) pp. 93-94, fn. 8; 36 Notre Dame Law. (1961) 189, 193; Note, The California FEPC: Stepchild of the State Agencies (1965) 18 Stan.L.Rev. 187, 190, fn. 20; Note, The Right to Equal Treatment: Administrative Enforcement of Antidiscrimination Legislation (1961) 74 Harv. L.Rev. 526, 527.) As we have noted, however, the California definition of “employer” is derived from Assembly Bill No. 3, which was introduced in the Legislature prior to the adoption of the New York fair employment law. Moreover, the New York law did not use the same language in defining employer. As enacted in 1945, the New York law provided: “The term ‘employer’ does not include . . . any employer with fewer than six persons in his employ.” (1945 N.Y Laws, ch. 118, § 27, p. 458.) The same wording is used today in the New York statute. (N.Y. Exec. Law, art. 14, § 292.)
Although the language differed, the Fair Employment Practices Commission construed the California law in the same manner as the New York State Commission Against Discrimination construed the New York law. After interviews with persons responsible for administering the Fair Employment Practices Act in 1965, one writer described the manner in which the employer provision was being implemented:
“One question which arises under this exemption is whether it includes an individual who owns and conducts several businesses at each of which less
“The California act states that an employer falls within its provisions only when he is regularly employing five or more persons. This does not mean that the accused employer must have five or more employees every day throughout the year or that he must have five or more employees at the time of the discriminatory act. It does mean that he must have an ‘average’ or ‘normal’ complement of five or more persons in his employ on a ‘regular’ basis. Precisely how this rule is to be applied in practice is not yet determined. The commission hopes to evolve a clear formula by deciding actual cases.” (Tobriner, supra, 16 Hastings L.J. at pp. 342-343, fns. omitted.)
This understanding of the law is reflected in the first precedential decision of the FEHC in which this question was raised. In Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Travel Express, supra, No. 83-17, FEHC Precedential Decisions 1982-83, CEB 16, the facts were similar to those before this court. The employer had five employees, two of whom worked alternate days and filled one position. There were no more than four employees working on any working day. The FEHC noted that there was at the time of that decision no appellate case or FEHC precedential decision on the issue, and found that the respondent was a person who regularly employed five or more persons within the meaning of the statute.
The FEHC analogized the employment pattern of the respondent with that of the employer in Pascutoi v. Washburn-McReavy Mortuary (D.Minn. 1975) 11 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (Bur. Nat. Affairs) 1325, a case decided under Title VII, which also held that part-time workers were to be included in determining the number of employees even though they did not work on each working day. Like the court in Pascutoi, the FEHC reasoned that its obligation to liberally interpret the FEHA to further its remedial purpose supported a finding that the respondent had employed a minimum of five people during the pertinent period and thus was an employer within the meaning of section 12926, and section 7286.5, subdivision (a) of title 2 of the then California Administrative Code. (Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Travel Express, supra, No. 83-17, FEHC Precedential Decs. 1982-83, CEB 16, pp. 4-5.)
This construction is consistent with the purpose of the legislation and of the small-employer exemption since by looking to the number of employees on the payroll the enforcement agency is able to channel its resources into enforcement where job opportunities will be maximized.
Notwithstanding the various phraseology of the small-employer exemptions and the inclusion of the term “regularly” in the laws of Minnesota and California, no case law or contemporary comment on fair employment laws
One commentator explains: “Employers of less than four to eight employees are excepted from statutory coverage because regulation of the practices of numerous small employers was thought infeasible. The number of jobs which could be made available in these units is relatively small compared to the results that can be obtained by eliminating discriminatory practices of large firms. And discrimination between persons working together in a small establishment might often be so elusive that the law could not effectively protect the employee. (Note, The Operation of State Fair Employment Practices Commissions (1955) 68 Harv.L.Rev. 685, 687-688, fns. omitted.)
Others, addressing the California law specifically, reach a similar conclusion: “The exceptions for employers of fewer than five persons and for family and domestic servants serve a dual function: they keep the Commission out of trivia in terms of job opportunities and out of situations too personal for the law to effect a satisfactory solution.” (Note, The California FEPC: Stepchild of the State Agencies, supra, 18 Stan.L.Rev. at p. 202.)
“A sense of justice and propriety led the framers to believe that individuals should be allowed to retain some small measure of the so-called freedom to discriminate; besides, they feared the political repercussions of eliminating totally an area of free choice whose infringement had been so bitterly opposed. In the second place, the framers believed that discrimination on a small scale would prove exceedingly difficult to detect and police. Third, it was believed that an employment situation in which there were less than five employees might involve a close personal relationship between employer and employees and that fair employment laws should not apply where such a relationship existed. Finally, the framers were interested primarily in attacking protracted, large-scale discrimination by important employers and strong unions. Their aim was not so much to redress each discrete instance of individual discrimination as to eliminate the egregious and continued discriminatory practices of economically powerful organizations. Thus they could afford to exempt the small employer.” (Tobriner, supra, 16 Hastings L.J. at p. 342, fns. omitted.)
It is noteworthy that in discussing these small employer exemptions the commentators uniformly assumed that “regularly employing” referred to the
To the extent that contemporary understanding of the scope of the Fair Employment Practices Act can be ascertained, that understanding also supports the FEHC‘s argument that the total number of employees is determinative, and that the qualifying phrase “regularly employing” does not permit exclusion of part-time employees, whether they work only part of the working week or only part of the working day.
In the April 16, 1959, Report of the Legislative Counsel, analyzing Assembly Bill No. 91, the scope of the measure is described as extending to “those employing five or more persons including the State and political and civil subdivisions thereof and cities, but not including non-profit social clubs, fraternal, charitable, educational, or religious associations or corporations; but specifies that an individual employed by his parents, spouse, or child, or in domestic service in the home of any person, is not a subject employee, and that employers and employees are not covered in respect to farm work performed by agricultural workers residing on the land on which they are employed.” (Italics added.) The failure to note or attach special significance to the qualifying term “regularly” suggests an understanding that the word would be given its usual meaning—i.e., occurring at fixed intervals (see Webster‘s New Collegiate Dict. (9th ed. 1984) p. 992) and did not merit explanation. Given that understanding, the number of employees who work regularly as opposed to intermittently, or who are carried on the payroll at the time of the discriminatory act, would be dispositive.
In its pamphlet FEPC, Fair Employment Law in California, Your Rights, Your Responsibilities, the Fair Employment Practices Commission also appears to have construed the exemption as one based on the total number of employees, stating: “Exempt are employers of fewer than five, of domestic workers, of farm workers living where employed, and certain nonprofit institutions.”21
Plaintiff speculates that the Legislature intended to spare small businesses the burden of keeping records documenting the circumstances of each termination and layoff and from the expense of employing legal counsel to assist them in a complex and volatile area of law. Amicus curiae California
Nothing in the history of the FEHA or the Fair Employment Practices Act supports these arguments, persuades us that the law should be construed restrictively, or suggests that it was the legislative intent to exempt professionals or other small businesses who employ part-time personnel on a regular basis. Were we to accept the construction of
Indeed, if one purpose of the exemption of employers of less than five persons was to permit the agency to concentrate its enforcement efforts in areas involving greater numbers of employment opportunities, enforcement in this field is consistent with the legislative purpose. Plaintiff, individually, might be considered a small employer. As the California Dental Association concedes, however, there are 24,000 dentists in California, many of whom have employment arrangements similar to those of plaintiff. The number of employment opportunities is, therefore, quite large.
It is also noteworthy that California, unlike some other states, did not elect to exempt small businesses from the pregnancy leave provisions of the FEHA when it was enacted. By contrast, The Wisconsin Family Leave Act (1989 Wis. Law 228), which grants leave in connection with the birth of a child, applies only to employers of 50 or more persons on a permanent basis. (
Because the FEHA is remedial legislation, which declares “[t]he opportunity to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination” to be a civil right (
We therefore conclude that plaintiff is an employer within the meaning of
B. Regulation 7286.5.
Plaintiff does not claim that
The claim is not that Regulation 7286.5 is impermissibly vague,22 but that it can be read as excluding plaintiff‘s part-time employees from consideration in determining if he is an employer subject to FEHC jurisdiction. If read as plaintiff suggests, however, Regulation 7286.5 would be inconsistent with
Plaintiff‘s claim that the regulation fails to give notice thus assumes that, given two possible meanings, the regulation may be construed so as to render it invalid. Like a statute, however, whenever possible a regulation should be construed to uphold validity. (Associated Homebuilders etc., Inc. v. City of Livermore (1976) 18 Cal.3d 582, 598 [135 Cal.Rptr. 41, 557 P.2d 473]; Cal. Drive-in Restaurant Assn. v. Clark (1943) 22 Cal.2d 287, 292 [140 P.2d 657]; California State Restaurant Assn. v. Whitlow (1976) 58 Cal.App.3d 340, 344 [129 Cal.Rptr. 824].)
Moreover, plaintiff and other employers are presumed to know the law and whether they come within the statutory definition of “employer.” (People v. Snyder (1982) 32 Cal.3d 590, 592-593 [186 Cal.Rptr. 485, 652 P.2d 42].) Thus, the claim that the regulation does not give notice fails.
If plaintiff‘s theory is that the FEHC should be estopped from imposing sanctions on him because Regulation 7286.5 is misleading, that claim also fails. The doctrine of estoppel is available against the government “where justice and right require it.” (Lentz v. McMahon (1989) 49 Cal.3d 393, 399 [261 Cal.Rptr. 310, 777 P.2d 83].) It has been applied when the government has misled a claimant (see Lerner v. Board of Education (1963) 59 Cal.2d 382 [29 Cal.Rptr. 657, 380 P.2d 97]; Tyra v. Board of Police etc. Commrs. (1948) 32 Cal.2d 666 [197 P.2d 710]; Farrell v. County of Placer (1944) 23 Cal.2d 624 [145 P.2d 570, 153 A.L.R. 323]), but will not be applied if to do so would nullify a “‘strong rule of policy adopted for the benefit of the public.’ (County of San Diego v. Cal. Water etc. Co. (1947) 30 Cal.2d 817, 830 [186 P.2d 124].)” (Lentz v. McMahon, supra, 49 Cal.3d 393, 399.)
We need not decide here whether, applying the balancing approach suggested in City of Long Beach v. Mansell (1970) 3 Cal.3d 462, 496-497 [91 Cal.Rptr. 23, 476 P.2d 423], the harm caused plaintiff by the imposition of sanctions by the FEHC outweighs the governmental interest in enforcing
“Generally speaking, four elements must be present: (1) the party to be estopped must be apprised of the facts; (2) he must intend that his
Assuming, therefore, that the doctrine of estoppel may be urged on grounds that an administrative regulation is so vague as to mislead a party into believing that he or she was not subject to the statute the regulation implements, plaintiff may not do so. He did not urge this basis for estoppel in the administrative or mandamus proceedings (see Pittsburg Unified School Dist. v. Commission on Professional Competence (1983) 146 Cal.App.3d 964, 980 [194 Cal.Rptr. 672]), and has not established the factual predicate—knowledge of and reliance on Regulation 7286.5.
III
The judgment of the Court of Appeal is affirmed.
Lucas, C. J., Mosk, J., Panelli, J., Kennard, J., and George, J., concurred.
ARABIAN, J., Dissenting.—I respectfully dissent from the majority‘s construction of
Legislative intent is the touchstone of judicial interpretation; and “a court must look first to the words of the statute themselves, giving to the language its usual, ordinary import and according significance, if possible, to every word, phrase and sentence in pursuance of the legislative purpose. A construction making some words surplusage is to be avoided.” (Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair Employment & Housing Com., supra, 43 Cal.3d at pp. 1386-1387.) Nevertheless, the majority analysis begins not with the actual terms of the statute but with the unexplicated conclusion that “‘regularly employing’ is susceptible of more than one interpretation.” (Maj. opn., ante, p. 234.) Without examining the words themselves and delineating the possible ambiguities and reasonable alternative constructions, the majority embark on their quest for legislative intent without a chart or compass. As a critical consequence, they stray from the course of “according significance, if possible, to every word” and render the qualifier “regularly” virtually meaningless in this context.
The extralegislative sources relied on by the majority offer little assistance in this search for legislative design. Many of these are of dubious relevance;1 and, in any event, no clear consensus emerges: while some make reference to the number of employees on the payroll as dispositive of jurisdiction, others are silent or ambiguous on the point.2 Nor does the record suggest the Legislature considered any of these materials when enacting either
The Commission‘s decisions applying the statute and related regulation (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 7285.1, subd. (a)) might provide some insight: “‘Consistent administrative construction of a statute over many years, particularly when it originated with those charged with putting the statutory machinery into effect, is entitled to great weight and will not be overturned unless clearly erroneous.’ [Citations.]” (City of Los Angeles v. Public Utilities Com. (1975) 15 Cal.3d 680, 696 [125 Cal.Rptr. 779, 542 P.2d 1371].)4 Even assuming two decisions from 1983 and 1984 satisfy the standard for consistency and longevity, however, I am unpersuaded by the Commission‘s superficial and facile analysis, which makes no attempt to grapple with the terms of the statute.
The first case, Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Travel Express, supra, No. 83-17, FEHC Precedential Decisions 1982-83, CEB 16, pages 3-5, relies solely on one federal district court decision interpreting “employer” as defined in title VII (
In my view, this determination is “clearly erroneous” and not entitled to any weight or deference.5 The Commission attempted no critical analysis of the actual words at issue. Regardless of a perceived “legislative directive to liberally interpret the act” (Dept. Fair Empl. & Hous. v. Travel Express, supra, No. 83-17, FEHC Precedential Decs. 1982-1983, CEB 16, p. 4), the language of the statute itself must initially inform its construction. The Commission failed to recognize this overarching mandate and in drawing so heavily on Pascutoi, supra, ignored a critical distinction in the wording of the federal and state code provisions. I see a substantial difference between defining an employer under the federal act as one who “has” a given number of employees and under the state scheme as one who is “regularly employing” such persons. In this context, “has” is essentially equivalent to “employing“; and adopting the federal analysis renders “regularly” superfluous.
The Commission attempts no explanation for relying solely upon one federal decision construing dissimilar statutory language. An affinity of remedial purpose cannot justify a flagrant disregard for the integrity of state law and administrative jurisdiction. Moreover, under the Commission‘s own regulations, “federal laws and their interpretations regarding discrimination in employment and housing are not determinative of the construction of these [FEHC] rules and regulations and the California statutes which they interpret and implement. . . .” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 7285.1, subd. (b).)
The majority construction as well reads the qualifier “regularly” out of
Fixing jurisdiction according to the number of employees on the payroll provides the Commission with a bright line determinative; but at the same time, it creates vagaries for the employer that can only inure to the ultimate detriment of employees, particularly those who work part time, denied jobs by employers seeking to avoid FEHC jurisdiction. The majority‘s analysis neglects to consider any of these consequences or the potentially wide-ranging impact on both employers and employees. (See Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair Employment & Housing Com., supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 1387.) Implementation of the Commission‘s mandate to rectify and eliminate discriminatory practices in the workplace should enhance not defeat the primary goal of maximizing employment opportunities. (Cf.
To avoid the anomalous results threatened by the majority interpretation while still effectuating the underlying remedial intent of the Legislature, I would construe
In the instant case, the Commission clearly should not have exercised jurisdiction because plaintiff scheduled five or more persons to work on only two business days. Accordingly, I would reverse the contrary determination of the Court of Appeal.
Notes
‘Employer’ does not include a religious association or corporation not organized for private profit.”
For example, “[u]npassed bills, as evidence of legislative intent, have little value. [Citations.]” (Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair Employment & Housing Com., supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 1396.) A defeated initiative measure can have even less. As the majority acknowledge, fair employment legislation from other jurisdictions does not track California‘s statutory language. (See Royal Globe Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1979) 23 Cal.3d 880, 888 [153 Cal.Rptr. 842, 592 P.2d 329], overruled on other grounds in Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman‘s Fund Ins. Companies (1988) 46 Cal.3d 287, 313 [250 Cal.Rptr. 116, 758 P.2d 58]; cf. Belridge Farms v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 551, 557 [147 Cal.Rptr. 165, 580 P.2d 665] [Legislature presumed to intend like interpretation be given identical statutory language].) And while language in an employer pamphlet prepared by the FEHC possibly in 1961 may have guided the Commission‘s own interpretation of| Monday: | 4 persons |
| Tuesday: | 4 persons |
| Wednesday: | 1 person |
| Thursday: | 5 persons |
| Friday: | 5 persons |
| Saturday: | 3 persons |
Because the Legislature authorized the FEHC to establish the system of publication in which precedential decisions are printed (
Of the states whose fair employment laws were enacted prior to that enacted in California, only Wisconsin had no small-employer exemption. The laws of New Mexico and Rhode Island applied to employers of four or more persons. The Connecticut law applied to employers of five or more persons. Those of Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon applied to employers of six or more persons. Those of Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington applied to employers of eight or more persons, and that of Pennsylvania to employers of twelve or more persons.