Overview

• The suit filed July 29 in Maryland federal court by Democracy Forward and the National Women’s Law Center on behalf of FreeState Justice alleges the EEOC’s so-called “Trans Exclusion Policy” unlawfully drops and stalls gender identity discrimination cases.
• Plaintiffs contend that since January the agency, under Acting Chair Andrea Lucas and in compliance with President Trump’s binary sex executive order, halted the charge-investigation process for gender identity claims and cut payments to state and local civil rights agencies.
• The complaint argues the EEOC’s actions conflict with the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
• Lucas has defended her adherence to the executive order as mandatory and has limited investigations to cases directly covered by the Bostock decision, excluding harassment and other claims tied to gender identity.
• The lawsuit seeks a court order forcing the EEOC to reinstate full investigations of transgender workplace discrimination and restore enforcement measures for all gender identity claims.