Acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas has said one of her priorities would be "defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights." (Getty Images)
Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, the EEOC has shifted away from its previous interpretation of civil rights law that included prohibiting workplace discrimination against people based on their gender identity.
This comes after the agency issued a landmark finding a decade ago that a transgender civilian employee of the U.S. Army had faced discrimination when her employer refused to use the worker's preferred pronouns or allow the individual to use bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex.
Under Lucas' authority, the EEOC has dropped several lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender workers. Lucas defended that decision during her Senate committee confirmation hearing last month, citing Trump's executive order stating that there are only two sexes — male and female.
But she also acknowledged that the 2020 Supreme Court ruling Bostock v. Clayton County "did clearly hold that discriminating against someone on the basis of sex included firing an individual who is transgender or based on their sexual orientation."
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Under current leadership, the EEOC has dropped several lawsuits alleging discrimination against transgender workers. (Getty Images)
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"It is a slight improvement because it will allow certain claims of discrimination to proceed," Feldblum told The Associated Press. "But overall it does not fix a horrific and legally improper situation currently occurring at the EEOC."
Colclough's email did not clarify how long the review process might take, or whether cases that include additional claims, such as harassment or retaliation, would be eligible to proceed, and the EEOC declined to address those questions.
"This is not the EEOC being clear to either its own staff or to the public what charges are going to be processed," Feldblum said. "This is not a panacea."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-refines-eeoc-approach-transgender-workplace-discrimination-claims