LGBT Battle for Bathroom Access, Pronouns Pivots to Worker Suits
Private litigants will need to take up the mantle of suing employers for failing to call transgender workers by their correct pronouns or give them access to facilities that correspond to their gender identity, now that a judge has put the brakes on federal guidance on the matter.
Judge Charles Atchley of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee last week granted a bid from a group of Republican states to block guidance from the Education Department and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the effect of the 2020 US Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that LGBTQ employees are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Employers only have a duty under federal law to not fire somebody because of gender identity or sexual orientation, said Atchley, a Trump appointee. The EEOC s guidance identifies and creates rights for applicants and employees that have not been established by federal law, and it directs employers to comply with those obligations to avoid liability, he said.