18 Red States Sue EEOC Over Federal Protections for Transgender Employees Eighteen Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee, arguing that the agency overstepped when it issued legal guidance that employers must accommodate transgender employees. The new guidance could lead to claims of workplace harassment under federal anti-discrimination law. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti claimed that the EEOC was misusing federal power "to eliminate women's private spaces and punish the use of biologically-accurate pronouns." The EEOC updated its legal guidance on workplace harassment with a new position on transgender discrimination last month, based on the 2020 Supreme Court ruling that discriminating against gay and transgender workers is a form of unlawful sex bias. The states are arguing that federal law protects workers from being fired because they are transgender but does not require employers to accommodate them. They claim that the issue should be decided by Congress and the states. Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio are among the states that have joined the lawsuit.

Jessica Guynn, USA Today