EEOC rescinds LGBTQ-inclusive guidance on workplace harassment

""While much of that guidance wasn't new, one addition that rankled many conservatives was a section on gender identity and sexual orientation," NPR reports. That was added to be in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton County decision. The court ruled in 2020 that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in banning sex discrimination in the workplace, also banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

"EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, appointed by Donald Trump in 2020 and named chair by him last year, had said that under her watch, the agency would not advocate for transgender and nonbinary people, in keeping with Trump's "two sexes" executive order. She "announced that one of her priorities - for compliance, investigations, and litigation - is to defend the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights, including women's rights to single-sex spaces at work," an EEOC press release stated in January."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2-1 to withdraw 2024 guidance that defined workplace harassment and offered more than 70 examples, including protections tied to gender identity and sexual orientation. The guidance spanned nearly 200 pages and incorporated a section added to align with the Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton County decision, which found Title VII protects sexual orientation and gender identity. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, a Trump appointee, opposed the guidance and has prioritized defending a biological, binary view of sex. Lucas said the agency would not advocate for transgender and nonbinary people and emphasized women's single-sex workplace spaces. The rescission removed many references to gender identity.

Read at Advocate.com