Acting head of US employment rights agency failing to protect trans and nonbinary workers, Democrats say
Democrats are demanding the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforce civil rights protections for transgender and nonbinary people.
A letter to Andrea Lucas, a copy of which was viewed by the Guardian, alleges the agency has 'abdicated this responsibility under the law when it comes to transgender and nonbinary workers'.
The letter cites that shortly after Lucas's appointment as acting chair of the EEOC in January 2025, Lucas instructed the agency to halt the processing of claims related to gender identity discrimination, and that in April 2025 the agency instructed all employees to classify gender identity discrimination complaints as its lowest priority.
'A categorization reserved for meritless charges – which essentially puts the processing of such complaints in an indefinite hold,' the letter states.
The letter also notes the EEOC moved to dismiss six cases the agency had previously pursued against employers accused of gender identity discrimination, including EEOC v Boxwood Hotels, a lawsuit in which the employer is alleged to have fired a transgender employee after the employee's manager repeatedly misgendered the employee and referred to them as 'it'.
Signers of the letter include 70 members of Congress, led by Congressman Mark Takano, Robert C 'Bobby' Scott and Suzanne Bonamici. The letter comes as state legislatures in the US introduced over 530 bills targeting LGBTQ+ people in 2024.
The EEOC also removed the 'x' gender marker on intake forms, removed materials on rights and protections on gender identity discrimination, and issued a memorandum informing fair employment practices agencies that they will not receive credit for intakes or resolutions related to gender identity, the letter added.
'Alarmingly, in both the commission's filings in court and in your previous statements, you have invoked President Trump's sweeping executive order, which states it is the policy of the federal government to only recognize two sexes and seeks to have all agencies refuse to acknowledge the existence of transgender people,' the letter continued.
'The commission is supposed to be an independent agency, and as a commissioner and its acting chair, your job is to enforce the law. The supreme court's ruling in Bostock is the law of the land, and the commission's previous cases, including Macy v Holder, Jameson v US postal service and Lusardi v Department of the Army, are binding precedents on the agency. An executive order cannot overturn any of those precedents or the commission's obligations and responsibilities under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.'
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