The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an enforcement guidance to provide directions on non-discrimination in the workplace to ensure equal opportunities and protect LGBTQI+ employees from discrimination and harassment.

Based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the EEOC has issued the Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace regarding non-discrimination, including sexual orientation, gender identity discrimination, and harassment. 

However, several states are challenging the guidance, leaving LGBTQI+ employees unprotected from discrimination and harassment at their workplaces.

• Tennessee et. al., v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

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 challenged the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which includes information regarding discrimination at a workplace and clarifies that said discrimination includes gender identity and sexual orientation.

On July 5, 2024, Democracy Forward filed a friend of the court brief in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee on behalf of the Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance, which represent tens of thousands of small businesses throughout the country entitled to Title VII and other federal employment laws.

The brief explains that the EEOC’s guidance, which interprets workplace discrimination obligations, benefits businesses needing direction on Title VII and other federal rules. 

The states challenging the rule have asked the court to stop the effects of the guidance, which remains in effect for now.