The following article was first published on Shipman & Goodwin attorney Daniel Schwartz’ Connecticut Employment Law blog. It is reposted here with permission.

On Jan. 22, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took a significant step when it voted two-to-one to rescind the comprehensive anti-harassment guidance that was finalized in April 2024.

The guidance, which updated the agency’s approach to workplace harassment for the first time in 25 years, was eliminated by the commission’s new Republican majority without a public notice and comment period.

For employers in Connecticut and Massachusetts in particular, while this development may seem unsettling, the underlying laws have not changed and state law protections remain firmly in place.

The EEOC meeting on Thursday proved contentious.

EEOC chair Andrea Lucas and commissioner Brittany Panuccio voted to rescind the 191-page document, citing President Trump’s executive order that declared there are two immutable sexes as one reason for the revocation.

Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal, the lone Democrat, voted against the measure and moved to postpone the vote until there was an opportunity for public input. Neither Republican commissioner supported her motion.

The rescinded guidance was developed through a lengthy process that received more than 38,000 public comments.

It included real-world examples of workplace harassment, addressed emerging concerns such as online harassment, and outlined best practices for...

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