The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a new guidance document titled “Bathroom Access Rights for Transgender Employees Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” which clearly states the agency’s position that discrimination on the basis of transgender status is prohibited by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The fact sheet appears to be in direct response to North Carolina’s controversial new law prohibiting transgender individuals from using restrooms consistent with the sex with which they identify, but were not assigned biologically at birth. Indeed, the fact sheet states that denying an individual access to a “common restroom corresponding to the employee’s gender identity” violates Title VII.
In the meantime, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the state of North Carolina have each sued the other over the legality of the state’s bathroom law, setting up a possible definitive court ruling down the line as to whether Title VII — which does not explicitly include transgender status or sexual orientation as protected categories — in fact prohibits discrimination on those bases.
A copy of the EEOC’s new fact sheet is available online here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.