Some legal experts say a new federal court ruling striking down pro-LGBTQ employment policies from the Biden administration may spell trouble for similar guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and its mammoth regulatory proposal on Title IX.
A federal judge in Texas delivered that big legal blow to the administration Oct. 1.
District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk threw out guidance documents from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stating that employers should allow transgender workers to access restrooms and facilities aligned with their gender identity. Attacks on one’s gender expression or use of pronouns could also constitute discrimination, the guidance said.
To support these policies, the administration drew on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2020, Bostock v. Clayton County, which extended protections in federal employment law to LGBTQ workers.
Kacsmaryk, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump, didn’t buy this legal interpretation.
He said in his opinion the Biden administration radically misconstrued the high court’s ruling. Bostock protected LGBTQ workers but not their “correlated conduct,” like the way they dress or which bathroom they want to use, according to Kacsmaryk. He also said the guidance in question was substantive enough that the administration should have implemented it through the regulatory process.
Thus, Kacsmaryk ruled, the EEOC guidance is unlawful. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued over the...
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