EEOC Ruling Protects Transgender Employees

April 25th, 2012 by JBWK

In a ruling issued this week, the EEOC held that Title VII protects transgender employees and applicants under its rules barring discrimination based on sex or gender.

It is the first time the EEOC has held Title VII’s protections extend to transgender individuals. The ruling is available here (pdf).

Before the ruling, only a handful of states and localities explicitly protected transgender individuals. Now that the EEOC deems it covered by Title VII, employers everywhere need to be aware of it.

It’s also important to note that, while the EEOC is now processing complaints on this basis, it does not mean that a federal court will accept the EEOC’s interpretation and extend Title VII’s protections to transgender individuals.

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