EEOC Vote Revokes Guidance Shielding Transgender Employees (1)

The EEOC has officially rescinded by vote anti-harassment guidance that said misgendering workers is a form of discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rescission at a public meeting Thursday will roll back the Biden-era LGBTQ+ protections, continuing the weakening of transgender bias enforcement since the start of the second Trump administration.

A Texas federal judge in May 2025 already struck portions of the anti-harassment guidance dealing with transgender employees, which also included protections for workers using bathrooms and facilities that align with their gender identity.

The commission voted 2-1 with Democrat Kalpana Kotagal siding against the panel’s Republican majority.

The vote at the EEOC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., proved contentious for the agency, drawing advocates who held a pre-meeting press conference in support of keeping the harassment guidance alive.

The Trump administration has taken several steps to dismantle transgender bias protections in the workplace, in-line with its more limited reading of the US Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision than the Biden administration’s interpretation.

The ruling found Title VII bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Republican EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, in line with the administration’s view, has said Bostock’s protections don’t extend to actions such as misgendering workers, but are limited to discrimination because of a worker’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

The guidance covers harassment against other employees beyond just those who are transgender.

On broader harassment issues, Lucas and Commissioner Brittany Panuccio said at the meeting the commission will continue to litigate and bring cases targeting harassment even without the document.

Lucas said it is “absurd” to imply that rescinding the document eliminates anti-harassment enforcement at the EEOC. Those implications also “undermine the victims” who came forward before the document was voted in place, she said.

Harassment Enforcement

The document includes real world examples of workplace harassment and outlines best practices for employers. It contains footnotes that cite back to relevant court cases supporting the guidance.

The guidance “uplifts the experiences of some of the most marginalized workers,” as well as includes important developments of the law, such as the Bostock decision, Kotagal said ahead of her vote against rescission.

It also includes emerging concerns for employers and workers, such as online harassment, she added.

The commission rescinded the guidance without a notice and comment period.

Kotagal moved to postpone the meeting and vote until there is a notice and comment period or a meeting for public input. Neither Republican voted in favor of her motions.

In addition to the harassment guidance vote, the three EEOC commissioners held a private vote ahead of the public meeting where they approved two other items along party lines.

One was a resolution concerning the commission’s authority to commence or intervene in litigation, the other dealt with obligations of funds requiring commission approval, according to a public notice. More information about those proposals was not immediately available.

The few dozen advocates gathered outside the EEOC headquarters to protest the harassment guidance included Biden-era officials who were at the agency when the document was finalized in 2024.

Former EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride and Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels were present. Both are Democrats who were fired by President Donald Trump last year.

Despite the rollback of the harassment guidance, the underlying protections and law remain in place, Gilbride said at the event.

“No matter what happens in that building today, those cases remain the law,” she said.