EEOC instructs staff to sideline all new transgender discrimination cases, employees say

By CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press The federal agency tasked with protecting workers civil rights is classifying all new gender identity-related discrimination cases as its lowest priority essentially putting them on indefinite hold according to two agency employees The U S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission held a meeting on Wednesday clarifying how it would treat new worker complaints of gender-identity discrimination in view of President Donald Trump s Jan executive order declaring that the cabinet would recognize only two immutable sexes male and female Staff who handle incoming charges or intakes were directed to code them as C the lowest categorization in the EEOC s system that is usually reserved for meritless charges according to the agency employees who attended the Microsoft Teams meeting for intake supervisors district directors and assistance staff that was led by the EEOC s national intake coordinator The employees solicited to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to reveal the meeting details An EEOC spokesman declined to comment on the meeting saying that per federal law we cannot discuss investigatory practices Related Articles Tropical drinks by the pool Not so fast says senator who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador Judge blocks Trump administration from passport changes affecting transgender Americans Judge says detained Tufts novice must be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont Lawsuit challenges revocation of visas for international students ACLU suggests administration is restarting deportations under th century wartime law The decision is the latest step by the EEOC to back away from defending the rights of transgender and nonbinary workers in a major shift in civil rights enforcement under the Trump administration In February the EEOC moved to drop seven of its own pending lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender and nonbinary people EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas a Republican has reported one of her priorities will be implementing Trump s executive order on gender and defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights She had previously ordered that any worker discrimination charge that implicates Trump s executive order on gender should be elevated to headquarters for review This latest decision to bury gender identity-related complaints leaves transgender and nonbinary people experiencing discrimination at work with limited recourse U S workers must file discrimination complaints through the EEOC in greater part cases before they can seek other legal avenues Giving gender identity-related cases the lowest priority essentially pre-determines that they are meritless revealed Chai Feldblum who was an EEOC commissioner from - If they say they are bringing it to a central location to give them due consideration they at least have the facade of doing something Feldblum commented of Lucas previous directive on gender identity cases If they are sweeping them out the door as C charges they are not doing their job The EEOC has reported that it will still issue right to sue notices in gender-identity related cases upon request meaning workers can decide to pursue a lawsuit on their own The agency will also honor requests for mediation according to the employees who attended Wednesday s meeting But if mediation fails the EEOC will take no further action on the event the employees disclosed The EEOC s new approach to gender-identity related discrimination has raised a debate over whether the agency is acting in violation of the Supreme Court s ruling in Bostock v Clayton County a landmark occurrence that established that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination based on gender identity Civil rights activists have accused the EEOC of illegally defying the Supreme Court and abdicating its duty to enforce anti-discrimination laws by abandoning gender-identity related lawsuits Lucas has previously notified The AP that the EEOC has a duty to comply with Trump s executive orders but she has not directly addressed the criticism that the agency s handling of gender-identity cases are in tension with the Supreme Court The EEOC in fiscal year received more than charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and -plus in according to the agency s website Associated Press business reporter Alexandra Olson contributed to this description The Associated Press women in the workforce and state cabinet coverage receives financial sponsorship from Pivotal Ventures AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org