EEOC rescinds harassment guidance

On January 22, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted 2-to-1 to rescind the harassment guidance issued under the Biden administration. The EEOC submitted the rescission as final to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its approval on December 29, 2025, without public notice and comment.

Harassment guidance issued in 2024

On April 29, 2024, the EEOC issued its final harassment guidance, updating the previous version with Bostock, #MeToo, and remote work issues. The most controversial guidance involved broad LGBTQ+ protections—especially for transgender employees—which the EEOC at the time believed was a natural extension of the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision. Specifically, the guidance cited denial of access to a bathroom consistent with an individual’s gender identity and repeated misgendering of an individual or harassment of an individual because they don’t meet stereotypical standards associated with their gender. Current EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who was a commissioner at the time, objected to the harassment guidance on gender identity as beyond the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock.

Trans guidance blocked by court