(PatriotNews.net) – On May 20th, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 18 states in filing a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This comes after the EEOC issued new guidelines on sexual harassment, which expand Title VII’s protections against sex-based discrimination to include gender identity.
The EEOC’s guidelines, issued on April 29, indicate that employers might be held responsible under Title VII if they or another employee use a name or pronoun that doesn’t match an employee’s preferred gender identity. Employers can also face liability for limiting access to bathrooms or other sex-segregated facilities based on biological sex. Employers could face lawsuits if a customer or non-employee does not use an employee’s preferred pronouns or refuses to share a restroom with them.
Skrmetti argues that the Constitution grants lawmaking power to elected representatives, not to unaccountable commissioners. Skrmetti claims this EEOC action undermines the legitimacy of laws, eliminating women’s private spaces and punishing the use of biologically accurate pronouns, negatively affecting Tennessee employers.
On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order to prevent and combat discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This order declared that laws prohibiting sex discrimination also cover gender identity and sexual orientation, directing federal agencies to fully implement statutes according to this interpretation.
The EEOC clarified on June 15, 2021, what employers need to do concerning dress codes, bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and using preferred pronouns or names. The Department of Education’s “Dear Educator” letter on June 23, 2021, stated that Title IX’s protection against sex discrimination includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
In response, Tennessee led a coalition of states in challenging these guidance documents on August 30, 2021. In 2022, the United States District Court Eastern District of Tennessee granted an injunction.
Now, attorneys general from 18 Republican-led states are suing the EEOC and the Department of Justice over this new guidance. They argue the EEOC unlawfully expanded Title VII to create new gender-identity rules without proper authority, claiming the Supreme Court ruling only addressed termination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, not other workplace actions.
Copyright 2024, PatriotNews.net
