18 states sue the Biden administration over transgender worker protections

Eighteen Republican-led states sued the Biden administration late Monday over new federal guidance that aims to protect transgender Americans from workplace discrimination.

In a lawsuit filed against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice, attorneys general from the 18 states, led by Tennessee, argued that the federal agency’s new rules unlawfully force employers to recognize trans workers’ pronouns and to allow trans employees to use restrooms and wear clothing that aligns with their gender identities.

They contend that in doing so, the EEOC wrongfully expanded Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on sex, among other categories.

“In America, the Constitution gives the power to make laws to the people’s elected representatives, not to unaccountable commissioners, and this EEOC guidance is an attack on our constitutional separation of powers,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement on Monday. “When, as here, a federal agency engages in government over the people instead of government by the people, it undermines the legitimacy of our laws and alienates Americans from our legal system.”

The EEOC is a bipartisan agency under the Department of Labor that was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce anti-discrimination protections in the workplace. It is led by five president-appointed commissioners, with the party in power having three commissioners.

In his statement, Skrmetti said the new guidance “misuses federal power to eliminate women’s private spaces and punish the use of biologically-accurate pronouns, all at the expense of Tennessee employers.”

In addition to Tennessee,