Nashville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) Tennessee’s Attorney General is leading 18 states in a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over new sexual harassment guidance.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed the suit on Monday against the EEOC’s new guidance that he says “unlawfully extends Title VII’s protections against sex-based discrimination to cover gender identity.”
Skrmetti alleges that under the new guidelines, an employer may be liable under Title VII if they or another employee uses a name or pronoun that doesn’t coincide with an employee’s preferred gender identity among other stipulations.
“Additionally, under the EEOC’s guidance, an employer can be liable if it limits access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility, such as a shower or locker room, based on biological sex and not on gender identity. Employers also may be liable if a customer or other non-employee fails to use an employee’s preferred pronouns or refuses to share a restroom with someone of the opposite sex,” the AG said.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia, are also involved in the suit.
