Federal judge tosses Biden-era gender identity guidance for employers

A U.S. district judge on Thursday voided portions of Biden-era guidance on the enforcement of anti-harassment workplace rules. The judge ruled in favor of the state of Texas and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative legal nonprofit. The guidance, released in April 2024 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, required employers to use employees’ preferred pronouns and allow trans-identifying employees to dress according to opposite-sex dress codes. It also said employers must allow trans-identifying employees to use the bathrooms and intimate facilities of the opposite sex.

What did the opinion say? Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk wrote in his opinion that the guidance used too broad an interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex-based workplace discrimination. The guidance didn’t fit with historical precedent or recent Supreme Court decisions, Kacsmaryk said.

The judge did not grant the plaintiffs a permanent injunction that would have blocked anyone from ever interpreting Title VII the way the guidance did. But he struck out the portions of the guidance relating to gender identity.

Why didn’t the Trump administration supersede the guidance? The EEOC and Department of Justice in March released documents discouraging employers from what they called discriminatory practices stemming from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. However, no new official guidance has been issued, because that requires a commission vote.

President Donald Trump fired the EEOC commissioners who supported the gender identity guidance, but couldn’t force withdrawal of the rule due to legal technicalities, the Heritage Foundation said.