In a 4-3 decision, the California Supreme Court in Jones v. The Lodge at Torry Pines Partnership, found that nonemployer individuals (e.g., supervisors) are not personally liable for claims of retaliation brought under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), at least when the retaliation is not in response to actionable harassment. The case resolves an unsettled question brought to prominence by the 1998 California Supreme Court opinion in Reno v. Baird, 18 Cal. 4th 640 (1998). In Baird, the court held that nonemployer individuals cannot be held personally liable for discrimination under the FEHA because discrimination arises "out of the performance of necessary personnel management duties that are "an inherent and unavoidable part of the supervisory function. By contrast, nonemployer individuals can be held personally liable for harassment, which "consists of a type of conduct not necessary for performance of a supervisory job and is "presumably engaged in for personal gratification or due to "meanness or bigotry, or for other personal motives.



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