Court scraps EEOC guidance on pronouns, restrooms, and dress
Don't expect the EEOC to appeal. (NOT OUR ACTUAL JUDGE.) In April 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace . The Enforcement Guidance addressed, among other things, harassment and discrimination based on gender identity. Current Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, who was a Commissioner at the time, dissented from the gender identity portions of the Enforcement Guidance, saying that “[w]omen’s sex-based rights in the workplace are under attack.” The State of Texas and the Heritage Foundation then sued the EEOC, seeking to block the gender identity portions of the Enforcement Guidance from taking effect. Both sides filed motions for summary judgment. The plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the Enforcement Guidance went way beyond the scope of the 2020 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County , in which the Court ruled that terminating an employee based on sexual orientation or g...