"Approved in 2024 during the Biden administration, the nearly 200-page document describes how harassment based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, religion, age, and disability is defined under federal law. It includes more than 70 examples, describing scenarios that employers might encounter. While much of that guidance wasn't new, one addition that rankled many conservatives was a section on gender identity and sexual orientation."
"Citing the 2020 Supreme Court decision Bostock vs. Clayton County and other cases, the guidance included examples of prohibited conduct, such as repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun the individual no longer uses, and denial of access to a bathroom consistent with their gender identity. The current EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas, was a commissioner in 2024 and voted against the guidance."
""Biological sex is real, and it matters. Sex is binary (male and female) and is immutable," she wrote in her dissent."
""It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly.""
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2-to-1 to rescind its 2024 harassment guidance and skipped the usual notice-and-comment process. The guidance was a nearly 200-page document that defined harassment tied to protected characteristics and included more than 70 employer-focused examples. The guidance added examples addressing gender identity and sexual orientation and relied on Bostock v. Clayton County for legal grounding. Examples cited included repeated use of a no-longer-used name or pronoun and denying access to bathrooms consistent with gender identity. A federal court previously vacated the guidance’s sexual orientation and gender identity section, and EEOC chair Andrea Lucas dissented in 2024.
Read at www.npr.org
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