For decades, employers have turned to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for guidance on what constitutes unlawful harassment and how to deal with it.

That task became harder on Thursday.

The commission voted 2-to-1 to rescind the latest version of its harassment guidance, skipping the standard notice and comment period, typically 30 days or longer.

Approved in 2024 during the Biden administration, the nearly 200-page document describes how harassment based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, religion, age, and disability is defined under federal law. It includes more than 70 examples, describing scenarios that employers might encounter.

While much of that guidance wasn't new, one addition that rankled many conservatives was a section on gender identity and sexual orientation. Citing the 2020 Supreme Court decision Bostock vs. Clayton County and other cases, the guidance included examples of prohibited conduct, such as repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun the individual no longer uses, and denial of access to a bathroom consistent with their gender identity.

The current EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas, was a commissioner in 2024 and voted against the guidance. She took the view that the Bostock decision only covers hiring and firing decisions, not other conditions of the workplace.

"Biological sex is real, and it matters. Sex is binary (male and female) and is immutable," she wrote in her dissent. "It is not harassment to acknowledge these...

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