Staffers at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have reportedly been instructed to classify new gender identity discrimination cases as the agency’s lowest priority following the January 20 executive order declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize an individual’s biological sex as determined by their “immutable biological classification as either male or female.”

Two current EEOC employees who attended an April 16 meeting led by the agency’s national intake coordinator told the Associated Press that staffers were directed to classify all new worker complaints of gender identity discrimination as code “C.” According to the two staffers, the classification is generally reserved for meritless complaints.

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Government commission halts investigations of LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination complaints
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff have been told to “pause” their investigative work on new and existing cases.

Former EEOC commissioner Chai Feldblum told the AP that the classification basically pre-determines that any gender identity discrimination case is meritless.

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“If they are sweeping them out the door as ‘C’ charges, they are not doing their job,” Feldblum said of the agency.

The AP reports that the EEOC will continue to issue “right to sue” notices in cases involving gender identity discrimination, allowing workers to pursue legal action on their own, and the agency will honor requests for mediation between employees and employers. However, the two staffers who took part in the April 16 meeting said that if mediation fails, the EEOC will take no further action in gender identity discrimination cases.

The directive comes amid the administration’s efforts to gut the EEOC and end the federal government’s lawful guarantee to protect transgender and nonbinary employees from discrimination. Since taking office in January, the president has fired two Democratic EEOC commissioners as well as the agency’s general counsel, leaving the agency without a required three-member quorum and thus compromising its ability to function.

He also named Republican EEOC commissioner Andrea Lucas as the agency’s acting chair. Lucas opposes both DEI initiatives and federal civil rights protections for transgender people and has said that her priorities include “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination.” Lucas has also stated that while the agency will continue accepting all discrimination charges filed by workers, complaints that “implicate” Trump’s anti-trans executive order will be elevated to headquarters for review. Since February, the EEOC has moved to drop at least six lawsuits involving discrimination against trans and nonbinary workers.

In a February 18 statement, Equal Rights Advocates executive director Noreen Farrell noted that the EEOC’s new position on cases of gender identity discrimination is odds with the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which established that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“This isn’t a matter of policy preference or political ideology, it’s settled law that the EEOC has a legal duty to enforce,” Farrell said. “By refusing to process gender discrimination claims, the EEOC is abandoning its core mission and leaving countless workers vulnerable to workplace harassment and discrimination. The agency charged with protecting workers’ civil rights cannot simply decide to ignore Supreme Court precedent because of a change in political leadership.”

When LGBTQ Nation spoke to Feldblum in March, prior to the EEOC’s April 16 directive, she stressed that even if the agency is treating cases of anti-LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination “in an unfair, discriminatory manner,” LGBTQ+ Americans are still protected under federal law thanks to the Bostock decision.

“No LGBTQ person should think that they have less protection under the law now just because the EEOC may not be treating them fairly. It’s still illegal. They can still bring their cases to court,” Feldblum said.

“If you’re living in a state that has a state law prohibiting discrimination or a city law, obviously you sue on that basis,” she explained. “But if you are living in any state that does not have a state law protecting you from discrimination, there is a federal law that under the Supreme Court’s ruling protects you right now. So, if you experience discrimination, you should try to find a lawyer. And one of the best ways to do that is just call the ACLU in your state.”

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