Title VII: What Constitutes Discrimination on the Basis of Sex?
On May 15, 2025, the district court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order vacating the gender-identity portions of the EEOC’s 2024 Enforcement Guidance. In the order, District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk stated that all language defining “sex” under Title VII to include “sexual orientation” and/or “gender identity” was contrary to law and therefore vacated. Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (2020) So, where does the law stand in regards to how “sex” is defined under Title VII and whether it includes gender-identity or sexual orientation? The Supreme Court previously addressed the issue, though in a limited capacity. In Bostock , Justice Gorsuch (joined by Justices Roberts, Ginsburg, Bryer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) established that an employer who terminates an individual based on that individual being gay or transgender violates the law; and this remains the law of the land. The Supreme Court’s reasoning in Bostock can be ...