Eighteen Republican-led states sued the Biden administration Monday night over new federal guidance aimed at protecting transgender Americans from workplace discrimination.
On a action filed against The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice, attorneys general of the 18 states, led by Tennessee, argued that the federal agency’s new rules illegally force employers to recognize trans workers’ pronouns and allow trans employees use restrooms and wear clothing that aligns with their gender identities.
They assert that in doing so, the EEOC unfairly expanded Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, among other categories.
“In America, the Constitution gives the power to make laws to the people’s elected representatives, not unaccountable commissioners, and this guidance from the EEOC is an attack on our constitutional separation of powers,” said the Tennessee attorney general. Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement on Monday. “When, as here, a federal agency becomes involved in governing over the people rather than governing by the people, it undermines the legitimacy of our laws and alienates Americans from our legal system.”
The EEOC is a bipartisan agency under the Department of Labor that was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce anti-discrimination protections in the workplace. It is led by five commissioners appointed by the president, with the ruling party having three commissioners.
In her statement, Skrmetti said the new guidance “misuses federal power to eliminate women’s private spaces and punish the use of biologically correct pronouns, all at the expense of Tennessee employers.”
In addition to Tennessee, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia .
An EEOC spokesperson referred NBC News to the Justice Department for comment. A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
The EEOC’s new rules regarding trans workers are part of a broader package of guidelines on workplace harassment that the agency released last month.
Its guidance on harassment of LGBTQ people in the workplace cites a 2020 Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, which concluded that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity qualifies as discrimination based on sex, which is prohibited by Title VII.
The 18 attorneys general cite the landmark 2020 ruling in their filing, but say they interpret the ruling differently than the EEOC. They argue that the Supreme Court did not intend to force employers to make accommodations with regard to workers’ gender identity and sexual orientation. Instead, they argue that the court’s ruling was narrower, preventing employers from firing workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Neither Title VII, nor Bostock, nor any other federal precedent gives the EEOC license to impose a gender identity accommodation mandate, which fails scrutiny of important issues and raises constitutional concerns,” the lawsuit says.
Earlier this month, a group of more than 20 Republican-led states, including 14 of the states that sued the EEOC on Monday, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education for its new rules regarding protections for trans students in federally funded schools. And last month, a group of Republican-led states filed a similar action against the EEOC over its new rules to allow workers time off for abortions.
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This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
