Civil Rights Dep’t v. City of Torrance, 2026 WL 3215987 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)

In September 2022, the City of Torrance rescinded a conditional offer of employment for a custodian position after a background check revealed the applicant’s multiple criminal convictions. The applicant filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Department (the CRD) under the Fair Chance Act (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12952), and the CRD expanded its investigation to determine whether the City had a pattern of disqualifying applicants (23 in all) without conducting the required “individualized assessments.” The City refused to produce its assessment templates and related documents on the ground that an in-house attorney had helped prepare them. The trial court granted the CRD’s petition to compel production, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the City waived the attorney-client privilege by defending itself on the basis of the adequacy of its individualized assessments. As the Court explained, the City “cannot demonstrate it complied with section 12952 without putting at issue the adequacy of the individualized assessments.”