A Texas federal court has struck down Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance on protections for LGBTQ+ employees.
In 2021, the EEOC issued “Protections Against Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,” a technical assistance document addressing issues such as workplace attire, pronouns and names, and the use of bathrooms, locker rooms and showers.
The guidance was released on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, where the justices held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The state of Texas sued the EEOC, asking the court to declare the guidance unlawful and enjoin its enforcement or implementation. Specifically, the state argued, among other things, that the guidance misstated the law and the EEOC violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it issued the guidance.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk agreed, granting Texas’ motion for summary judgment.
In holding that the EEOC misstated the law in issuing the guidance, the court noted that “[t]he crux of the parties’ disagreement distills down to one question: is the nondiscrimination holding in Bostock cabined to ‘homosexuality and transgender status’ or does it extend to correlated conduct—specifically, the sex-specific: (1) dress; (2) bathroom; (3) pronoun; and (4) health care practices underlying” the EEOC guidance.
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