Federal workplace harassment guidelines updated for first time in decades to include LGBTQ+ [Video]

The Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated federal LGBTQ+ workplace guidelines on harassment to include sexual orientation and gender identity, making it the first update of its kind since 1999.

Human Rights Campaign said they praised the new EEOC guidance, and say the updates now align with the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 Bostock v. ClaytonCounty decision, which came after an employer allegedly fired a longtime employee “simply for being homosexual or transgender,” the ruling stated. The 11th Circuit Court had said Title VII, used in that case, didn’t prohibit an employer from firing an employee for being gay. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Title VII protects LGBTQ+ employees.

The White House said that the EEOC’s latest guidance “makes clear that sex-based harassment, which is already prohibited under federal law, includes mistreatment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The Biden administration believes the updates will better allow LGBTQ+ people to use legal protections in cases of physical …