A federal judge in Texas has struck down portions of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) harassment guidance intended to protect LGBTQ+ employees from workplace discrimination.
In a ruling issued on May 15, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, found that the agency exceeded its authority in issuing updated guidance in 2024 that indicated certain behaviors could violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Citing the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that workplace discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers is illegal, that guidance warned against misgendering workers, as well as keeping them from accessing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. It also indicated that requiring workers to adhere to dress codes inconsistent with their gender identity could constitute harassment under Title VII.
The state of Texas and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, brought the case challenging the EEOC’s authority.
Why the judge vacated parts of the 2024 guidance. The EEOC guidance concerning bathroom, dress, and pronoun accommodations is “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent,” Judge Kacsmaryk wrote in his May 15 opinion.
Regarding the Bostock decision, the judge noted that the justices declined to expand Title VII’s definition of sex beyond male and female, and thus found that its protections can’t extend to “new categories or classes.”
Judge Kacsmaryk vacated the following sections of the 2024 guidance:
- All language defining “sex” in Title VII to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
- An entire section of the guidance outlining harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- An example included in the guidance of a transgender cashier who was “regularly and intentionally misgendered” by colleagues, creating a hostile work environment
- All language defining “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as a protected class
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All other components of the 2024 harassment guidance, which also addresses best practices for operating in remote work environments, as well as managing pregnant workers, were left untouched by the decision.
How this fits into Trump’s broader agenda. Kacsmaryk’s decision aligns with the EEOC’s current enforcement priorities, which include prioritizing investigations and litigation regarding a right to “single-sex spaces in workplaces.” When announcing these enforcement priorities, the EEOC cited a White House executive order that declared it is now US policy to recognize only two sexes (male and female).
To that end, the EEOC earlier this year moved to dismiss a number of lawsuits it had filed on behalf of transgender individuals.
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas previously expressed her opposition to the updated harassment guidance, issued when President Joe Biden was in office. She has identified this document as one that will be targeted to be rescinded or modified, actions that should be possible once the Senate confirms a third EEOC commissioner and re-establishes a quorum.
President Donald Trump recently nominated Brittany Panuccio, an assistant US attorney in Florida, to serve on the commission. He removed two commissioners shortly after taking office in January.