Texas Federal Court Nixes Initial Challenge to EEOC’s Guidance on LGBTQ+ Protections
On July 17, 2024, the U.S. District for the Northern District of Texas rejected the State of Texas’s request that it vacate recent guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on harassment and discrimination in the workplace as it concerns protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. The court’s ruling, however, is unlikely to end the dispute.
Quick Hits
A federal district court recently struck down a legal challenge to the EEOC’s 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which provided guidance as to how federal law prohibiting sex discrimination also encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Texas sought to invalidate the EEOC’s 2024 guidance regarding how Title VII protects bathroom/locker room usage, dress codes, and pronouns for LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace.
The court did not clarify whether the EEOC’s latest guidance is lawful.
On October 1, 2022, the U.S. District for the Northern District of Texas vacated the EEOC’s technical assistance document from June 15, 2021, which sought to explain the impact of the Supreme Court of the United States’ Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia decision for LGBTQ+ workers. It found the guidance was an unlawful extension of that decision and issued a declaratory judgment to that effect.
In lieu of filing a new lawsuit, Texas asked the same court to enjoin the EEOC’s 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which provides guidance as to how federal law prohibiting sex discrimination also encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The court denied the requested relief without clarifying whether the EEOC’s latest guidance was lawful, but instead said that a new lawsuit would be needed to challenge the new guidance. That lawsuit is likely forthcoming.
Source(s): OgletreeDeakins, received on July 29, 2024; Ogletree Deakins (EEOC Roundup), accessed on July 29, 2024.