The federal agency responsible for safeguarding the civil rights of American workers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has recently made a controversial decision to classify all new cases related to gender identity discrimination as its lowest priority. This action effectively places these complaints on indefinite hold, according to reports from two agency employees who attended a recent meeting.

On Wednesday, the EEOC held a significant meeting to outline its treatment of new complaints regarding gender-identity discrimination. This decision comes in the wake of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on January 20, which declared that the federal government would recognize only two immutable sexes: male and female. This ruling has far-reaching implications for LGBTQ+ rights within the workplace.

During the meeting, agency personnel responsible for handling incoming discrimination charges were instructed to categorize these gender identity-related cases as C. This designation represents the lowest tier in the EEOCs complaint categorization system, which is typically reserved for complaints deemed to lack merit. The employees who revealed this information requested anonymity, as they were not authorized to disclose details from the meeting, which was conducted via Microsoft Teams and attended by intake supervisors, district directors, and support staff, under the direction of the EEOCs national intake coordinator.

When contacted for comment regarding the meeting and the new policy changes, an EEOC spokesman declined to provide any details, citing federal laws that prohibit the agency from discussing investigatory practices.

This latest move by the EEOC represents a significant retreat from previous protections for transgender and nonbinary workers, marking a major shift in civil rights enforcement under President Trumps administration. Notably, in February, the EEOC took steps to withdraw seven of its own pending lawsuits that had alleged discrimination against transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Andrea Lucas, the EEOC Acting Chair and a Republican appointee, has publicly stated that one of her key priorities will be to implement Trumps executive order concerning gender and to defend the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights. Previously, she had instructed that any discrimination charge implicating the executive order on gender be elevated to headquarters for further review.

The agencys decision to deprioritize gender identity-related complaints raises significant concerns for transgender and nonbinary individuals facing workplace discrimination. In most cases, U.S. workers are required to file their discrimination complaints through the EEOC before they may explore other legal avenues for redress.

Experts in the field have voiced critical opinions regarding the implications of the EEOCs recent directive. Chai Feldblum, who served as an EEOC commissioner from 2010 to 2019, remarked that categorizing gender identity-related cases as the lowest priority effectively presupposes their lack of merit. If they say they are bringing it to a central location to give them due consideration, they at least have the facade of doing something, Feldblum noted. If they are sweeping them out the door as C charges, they are not doing their job.

Despite these changes, the EEOC has indicated that it will still issue right to sue notices for gender-identity related cases upon request, allowing workers to pursue lawsuits independently. The agency has also stated it will honor requests for mediation. However, if mediation is unsuccessful, the EEOC will cease any further action on the case.

The EEOCs new stance on gender-identity related discrimination has ignited a debate about whether the agency is violating the Supreme Courts 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, a landmark decision that affirmed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination based on gender identity.

Civil rights advocates have accused the EEOC of unlawfully defying the Supreme Court and neglecting its responsibility to enforce anti-discrimination laws by withdrawing from gender-identity related lawsuits. Lucas has previously stated to the Associated Press that the EEOC has a duty to comply with Trumps executive orders; however, she has not addressed the concerns raised about the agencys current handling of gender-identity cases being in conflict with Supreme Court rulings.

According to the EEOCs statistics, in fiscal year 2024, the agency received more than 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This figure mirrors the volume of such cases reported in 2023, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by LGBTQ+ workers in the United States.

Reporting for this article was also contributed by Alexandra Olson, a business reporter for the Associated Press.

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