The judge said that Title VII ‘does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women.’
A federal judge in Texas on May 15 vacated portions of the Biden-era enforcement guidance on workplace harassment that pertained to gender-based discrimination.
The decision stemmed from a
lawsuit filed in August 2024 by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Heritage Foundation, which sought to prevent the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from enforcing guidelines that require employers to use preferred pronouns and eliminate sex-specific workplace dress codes.
In a 34-page
ruling, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk stated that the EEOC overstepped its authority when it issued an enforcement guidance to employers that contravenes the plain text of Title VII, citing the guidance’s definition of “sex” that expanded beyond “biological binary.”
Kacsmaryk said the guidance, issued in April 2024, also contravenes Title VII because it labels employers’ “failure to accommodate a transgender employee’s bathroom, pronoun, and dress preferences” as discriminatory harassment.
The judge emphasized that Title VII—which protects employees from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin—“does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women.”
Paxton called the judge’s decision “a great victory for common sense” and the rule of law.
He accused the former Biden administration of trying to push “radical gender ideology” with federal law and force employers to adopt “transgender policies.”
“The federal government has no right to force Texans to play along with delusions or ignore biological reality in our workplaces,” the Texas attorney general said in a
statement.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, also commended the ruling in a separate
statement, describing it as “more than a legal victory.”
“It says no—you don’t have to surrender common sense at the altar of leftist ideology,” Roberts said of the ruling. “You don’t have to pretend men are women. And you don’t have to lie to keep your job.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the EEOC for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), which filed an amicus brief in November 2024 in support of the EEOC enforcement guidance, decried the ruling as “blatantly at odds with Supreme Court precedent.”
“This decision does not change the law, but it will make it harder for LGBTQIA+ workers to enforce their rights and experience a workplace free from harassment,” Liz Theran, senior director of litigation for education and workplace justice at NWLC, said in a
statement.
The EEOC received more than 3,000 charges related to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in fiscal year 2023, according to a
press release published last year.
