Red states are attempting to stop a federal agency from giving transgender workers more legal protections.
In a lawsuit filed late on Monday in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee, eighteen states claimed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had overreached itself when it issued guidelines requiring employers to provide accommodations for transgender employees, such as letting them use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity or using their preferred pronouns.
Under the new guidelines, employers risk being sued for workplace harassment under federal anti-discrimination law if they use incorrect pronouns or names, or if they refuse to allow an employee to use the restroom.
Although the guidance does not become law, it does specify how the EEOC, which is in charge of upholding workplace rights, will handle complaints of harassment.
The EEOC was abusing its federal authority, according to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, “to eliminate women’s private spaces and punish the use of biologically-accurate pronouns, all at the expense of Tennessee employers.”
This action exposed employers to EEOC complaints and employee lawsuits. The EEOC revised its legal guidelines on workplace harassment last month, including a new section on discrimination based on gender identity.
The 2020 Supreme Court decision that discrimination against homosexual and transgender employees is an illegal form of sexism served as the foundation for the EEOC’s stance.
The states contend in their complaint that while federal law shields employees from termination due to their gender identity, it does not mandate accommodations for transgender employees. They said that Congress and the states ought to determine that matter.
“The Court held that terminating an individual simply for ‘being homosexual or transgender’ is prohibited employment discrimination,” as per the lawsuit. “The Court did not consider or decide questions about any other workplace activity or employment action.”
In addition to Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, and Georgia joined the complaint.
An EEOC regulation that grants workers who have had abortions the same legal protections as pregnant or newly delivered workers was challenged in a lawsuit last month on similar grounds.
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A few conservatives and religious organizations reacted angrily to the EEOC’s announcement last year that it intended to amend its legal guidelines to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, claiming that the guidance violates state laws.
The guidelines are important because they provide the EEOC with a plan for enforcing federal anti-discrimination statutes. Since 1999, the commission has not revised its harassment guidelines.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the EEOC.
President Joe Biden’s appointee Charlotte Burrows, the chair of the EEOC, stated on Monday that the agency’s guidelines will assist guarantee that “people understand their workplace rights and responsibilities.”
“Harassment, both in-person and online, remains a serious issue in America’s workplaces. The EEOC’s updated guidance on harassment is a comprehensive resource that brings together best practices for preventing and remedying harassment and clarifies recent developments in the law,” Burrows stated in a press release.
