Supreme Court refuses to uphold Title IX trans harassment guidance

On August 16, the Supreme Court refused to lift lower court orders blocking the Department of Education’s (DOE) new regulations protecting LGBTQ+ students from discrimination based on gender identity. The new rule expanded the definition of sex-based discrimination under Title IX to protect gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination in federally funded schools. The entire court agreed three provisions should remain paused—the expanded definition of “sex discrimination,” the prohibition on preventing individuals from accessing bathrooms or other “sex-separated spaces” consistent with their gender identity, and the definition of “hostile environment harassment,” but the Court majority refused to allow the remaining regulations to go into effect.

The U.S. 5th and 6th Circuit Courts of Appeals had upheld lower court decisions blocking the DOE from enforcing the new rules. The Court doesn’t clarify what impact its decision may have on its Bostock ruling under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

9th Circuit holds online harassment actionable

A unanimous 9th Circuit panel held in Okonowsky v. Garland that a federal prison guard’s Instagram posts denigrating a female coworker can qualify as unlawful harassment. Although Steven Hellman made hundreds of posts denigrating women—including jokes about raping his coworker Lindsay Okonowsky—the district court found his online activity didn’t match up with what was needed for a Title VII harassment claim because the posts “occurred entirely outside the workplace,” weren’t sent to her directly, and weren’t shown to her while on the job.