Breaking: Trump Administration To Rescind Harassment Guidance
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will vote to rescind its Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Harassment. The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) authored a letter, joining over 70 organizations in opposing the proposed rescission.
The harassment guidance, issued in 2024, helps workers and employers alike understand how to recognize and prevent illegal harassment in the workplace. This updated resource replaced decades-old guidance and made clear that federal law protects all workers from harassment based on their race, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), religion, national origin, and other protected characteristics. The guidance provided more than 70 examples of how federal law applies to harassment in different scenarios, including harassment of survivors of gender-based violence, teenagers, individuals with disabilities, immigrants, and pregnant workers, and harassment that occurs online.
The harassment guidance was issued following a public notice-and-comment period, during which the EEOC received over 38,000 comments from individuals and organizations — whereas today’s decision by the current commission to rescind this guidance skipped over any opportunity for the public to weigh in. This action also follows the EEOC’s decision last week to rescind its voting procedures, which will make it easier for the agency to rollback other guidance documents and regulations behind closed doors without public awareness.
Workplace harassment remains a widespread, persistent problem across industries and workplaces. In FY 2024, the EEOC received over 35,000 charges alleging harassment – a number that is certainly an underestimate, given that most workers who experience harassment do not report it.
NWLC houses the Legal Network for Gender Equity, which connects individuals facing sex discrimination at work, at school, and as patients receiving health care with legal help.
The following is a statement by Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education & workplace justice at NWLC:
“The Trump administration has been relentless in weakening civil rights protections, and by rescinding the harassment guidance today, the EEOC continues to signal that it has turned its back on workers whose safety, livelihoods, and economic security are often put on the line. Thousands of women each year experience sex-based harassment, with women of color often on the receiving end of both race and sex based discrimination, but instead of offering guidance and support to address this scourge, this administration is spending our taxpayer dollars on video ads searching for white men aggrieved by diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“This will be yet another action by this administration to erode the EEOC — a critical product of the Civil Rights Act that has enforced civil rights for over half a century. But neither the president nor the EEOC can change the law – workers still have a right to be free from harassment at work, and organizations like NWLC will still be here to help all workers understand and enforce their rights.”
###
