Bass v. Great Western Savings & Loan Ass'n

Opinion

ROTH, P. J.

In the second cause of action

1

of her complaint against Great Western Savings and Loan Association (respondent), appellant, Linda Bass, alleges that she was one of nine sale persons concurrently working in the same capacity for respondent (the other eight being men). The eight men received a monthly advance of $800 against their

[772]

commissions but she received $700 a month and “ ... as a consequence . .. defendant has wrongfully discriminated against [her] as a woman and has violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and the laws of the State of California; [and] by reason of such discrimination . . . she has been damaged in the sum of One Million Dollars.”

The Legislature, recognizing the necessity “ ... to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgement on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, ... or sex” (Lab. Code, § 1411) enacted the Fair Employment Practice Act (§ 1410 et seq.) and established the Fair Employment Practice Commission to receive, investigate, and pass upon complaints alleging discrimination in employment. (Lab. Code, § 1419, subd. (f).) Section 1420, subdivision (a), makes it unlawful to discriminate because of sex in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment; section 1422 allows for the filing of complaints alleging unlawful practices; and section 1423 requires an investigation by the commission after the filing of any complaint alleging facts sufficient to constitute a violation of section 1420. Thus an administrative remedy as defined by

Hollon

v.

Pierce

(1967) 257 Cal.App.2d 468 [64 Cal.Rptr. 808], is provided.

The primary point raised and argued in the trial court was that appellant failed to exhaust the administrative remedies provided by the Fair Employment Practice Act ás required by