On January 28, 2025, the Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (\u201cEEOC\u201d), Acting Chair Andrea Lucas issued a statement announcing that the EEOC is returning to its \u201cmission of protecting women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace by rolling back the Biden administration\u2019s gender identity agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This statement followed President Trump\u2019s issuance of Executive Order 14168 (the \u201cEO\u201d), which, among other things, directs federal agencies to enforce \u201cthe freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces in the workplace\u201d and remove all existing statements, policies, forms, communications, or messages promoting gender ideology. The EO states that the federal government shall recognize only two sexes: male and female. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lucas\u2019s latest statements indicate the first steps of the EEOC taking action to enforce the terms of the EO. Specifically, one day after the EO was issued, Lucas announced several priorities for the EEOC\u2019s compliance, investigations, and litigation, with one being to \u201cdefend the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights, including women\u2019s rights to single sex spaces at work.\u201d Lucas has also removed materials promoting gender ideology from the EEOC\u2019s internal and external websites and documents and began a content review of the EEOC\u2019s \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d poster, which all covered employers are required to post in their workplaces. Lucas removed the display of EEOC employees\u2019 pronouns in internal and external communications and removed the \u201cX\u201d and \u201cMx.\u201d gender markers from the EEOC\u2019s charge and related forms and intake process. Lucas also has also been vocal about her opposition to portions of the EEOC\u2019s \u201cEnforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace\u201d that state that harassing conduct under Title VII includes \u201cdenial or access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with [an] individual\u2019s gender identity\u201d and \u201crepeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with [an] individual\u2019s known gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, despite Lucas\u2019s clear intentions to enforce the \u201cbinary reality of sex,\u201d including by removing guidance and references to \u201cgender identity,\u201d this new priority may be in tension with current federal law. Specifically, the US Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County<\/em> held that Title VII prohibits discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Thus, at this time, employment discrimination against transgender and gender nonconforming individuals remains illegal under federal law. Additionally, more than half of the states in the United States have laws explicitly prohibiting, or have interpreted other laws to prohibit, discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and these laws remain in effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Trump terminated two sitting Democratic commissioners, leaving the EEOC without a voting quorum. EEOC Lucas cannot unilaterally remove or modify certain gender identity-related documents because doing so requires a majority vote of the full Commission. Nonetheless, we expect to see an increase in workplace disputes on this issue in the future, including disputes involving \u201csingle sex spaces\u201d in the workplace, such as bathrooms and locker rooms. The Supreme Court in Bostock<\/em> avoided discussing this issue but it has been addressed to some degree at the state and local level. For example, according to published guidance, the New York City Human Rights Law requires that employers permit employees \u201cto use single-gender facilities, such as restrooms or locker rooms, and to participate in single-gender programs, that most closely align with their gender, regardless of their gender expression, sex assigned at birth, anatomy, medical history, or the sex or gender indicated on their identification.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employers should continue to monitor developments, and in the meantime should review policies and practices with counsel to ensure compliance with applicable law and continue to implement anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and equal opportunity policies as well as conduct workplace trainings consistent with applicable law. If you have any questions about the subject of this article and its implications for your business, please contact Forework.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On January 28, 2025, the Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (\u201cEEOC\u201d), Acting Chair Andrea Lucas issued a statement announcing that the EEOC is returning to its \u201cmission of protecting women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace by rolling back the Biden administration\u2019s gender identity agenda.\u201d This statement followed President Trump\u2019s issuance …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n