AP NewBy CLAIRE SAVAGEMay 16, 2025A federal judge in Texas struck down guidance from a government agency establishing protections against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Thursday determined that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exceeded its statutory authority when the agency issued guidance to employers against deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, and barring employees from wearing dress code-compliant clothing according to their gender identity because they may constitute forms of workplace harassment.
This flies in the face of a half a dozen or so Supreme Court ruling not only by other justices but also those appointed by Trump.
The EEOC, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, had updated its guidance on workplace harassment in April of last year under President Joe Biden for the first time in 25 years. It followed a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination.
In another AP News article they report,
The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers.“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court. “Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”
Hey... a Supreme Court ruling doesn't mean anything to a Republican!
You may remember that last week the Supreme Court heard cases on judges that was about banning judges from issuing nationwide rulings? Them writes...
A Trump-appointed federal district judge in Texas has struck down portions of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance document that was issued to protect transgender people from harassment in the workplace.
It is hypocritical for the Trump administration to argue against nationwide injunctions by judges while not addressing Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk's recent ruling invalidating EEOC protections for transgender workers.
God, this is so exhausting.
ReplyDeleteLike, how many times do we have to win the same fight? The Supreme Court literally already ruled that we’re protected under Title VII. But apparently, if a single Trump-appointed judge doesn’t like that, he can just decide it doesn’t count?
And the worst part? It’s not even surprising anymore. Just this endless game of whack-a-mole with our basic rights.
I'm not even out at work. I can't be. And stuff like this is exactly why. Every time there's a glimmer of safety or progress, they find a new way to gut it.