EEOC issues sexual orientation, gender identity bias guidance

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released new educational resources explaining employees’ right to be free from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment.

How we got here

A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court deemed it unlawful to discriminate against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, a historic milestone for LGBTQ+ rights. If an employer discriminates based on sexual orientation or transgender status, it necessarily discriminates “based on sex” because the bias is centered on the masculine or feminine stereotypes assigned to a specific sex, according to the Court.

The EEOC and other courts have interpreted Bostock to extend the prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 against sex discrimination and harassment to cover sexual orientation and gender identity bias and harassment. The agency observed Bostock’s one-year anniversary by announcing the new guidance.

The EEOC’s new resources include a landing page and a technical assistance document to help the public understand Bostock and the agency’s position on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. The landing page consolidates: