The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) shifted its enforcement priorities in the weeks after President Donald Trump took office, pivoting away from discrimination cases filed by transgender individuals and announcing an intent to target businesses that rely on foreign labor.
EEOC moves to drop transgender discrimination lawsuits. The agency filed motions to dismiss a number of lawsuits it had filed on behalf of transgender individuals, Bloomberg Law reported on Feb. 20. The cases included allegations that employers allowed for “deadnaming,” or referring to a transgender employee by the name they used prior to their transition, as well as misgendering and gender-based harassment, in their workplaces.
The EEOC cited a Trump executive order focused on “defending women from gender ideology extremism” in its motions to dismiss the cases. Other bias charges filed by transgender individuals have reportedly been “elevated for review.”
The agency’s 2024 guidance stated that the behaviors laid out in the lawsuits, such as misgendering employees, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But these recent actions suggest the agency will move away from this interpretation of the law, which was grounded in a 2020 Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton County.
Jocelyn Samuels, one of two EEOC commissioners fired by Trump on Jan. 27, characterized the agency’s recent efforts to drop this litigation as a “backdoor approach” to rescind the 2024 guidance, given it currently lacks the three-person quorum required to do so.
Agency puts employers on alert for “anti-American bias.” With its first public settlement since Trump took office, the EEOC made clear its intent to litigate cases involving employers that rely on foreign labor over American-born workers.
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On Feb. 18 the EEOC announced that a Guam-based hotel and resort agreed to pay the agency $1.4 million after being accused of offering non-Japanese employees “less favorable wages, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment” compared to workers from Japan. Some of the non-Japanese employees were from the US, the agency said.
Acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas described how the case aligned with one of her enforcement priorities in a Feb. 19 statement, asserting that “unlawful bias against American workers” violates Title VII.
“Many employers have policies and practices preferring illegal aliens, migrant workers, and visa holders or other legal immigrants over American workers—in direct violation of federal employment law prohibiting national origin discrimination,” she said.
Zoom out. While the EEOC moved quickly to reorient itself toward the president’s agenda, it’s worth noting federal laws under which workers can sue their employer haven’t changed.
In Bostock v. Clayton County, for example, the Supreme Court held that it’s illegal to discriminate against gay and transgender employees in the workplace under Title VII, and that decision remains in effect.
Even though the EEOC may be less inclined to take up lawsuits alleging discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers, employees are still free to file them.
Employers may also be required to comply with existing state laws protecting LGBTQ+ workers from discrimination, regardless of the change in administration at the federal level.