Small Businesses Oppose Texas’ Effort Seeking to Block EEOC Guidance 

Amarillo, Texas – America’s small business leaders are defending guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that helps businesses offer safe and welcoming workplaces and protects people from harassment. A coalition representing hundreds of thousands of small businesses throughout the country submitted a friend of the court brief in the Northern District of Texas this week, arguing that EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which highlights LGBTQ+ employees’ existing federal workplace protections against harassment, is not only good for employees but also good for business. 

“First, small businesses benefit from EEOC’s Anti-Harassment Guidance, which helps them understand and comply with their obligations under federal civil-rights laws,” reads the brief submitted by leading pro-democracy legal organization Democracy Forward on behalf of the Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, and American Sustainable Business Council. “The Guidance is good for business. Complying with civil rights laws, particularly those that guard against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the face of widespread harassment against LGBTQ+ workers, fosters more inclusive workplaces. Maintaining a workplace that addresses and prevents harassment helps to attract, hire, and retain workers of diverse backgrounds, improve worker performance, and reduce turnover—all of which, in return, improve bottom lines, drive business success, and boost the economy.”

The friend of the court brief was filed in a case where the state of Texas, along with the Heritage Foundation, is challenging the EEOC Guidance. In doing so, Texas is joining other states attempting to block the Guidance from taking effect, depriving employers and employees alike of a valuable resource that helps to clarify federal workplace civil rights protections against harassment including for LGBTQ+ employees. On May 13, 2024, the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia had also challenged the EEOC’s Anti-Harassment Guidance. On July 5, 2024, Democracy Forward filed a friend of the court brief which is also related to the EEOC’s Anti-Harassment Guidance in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee on behalf of the Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance. Find out more about that case here. 

For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org. 

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