November 1, 2023
On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, EPPC scholar Rachel N. Morrison submitted a public comment on proposed enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC’s proposed guidance states that workplace harassment protections under federal equal employment laws now extend to “reproductive decisions,” including abortion, and expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity, including “misgendering” individuals and “den[ying] access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with the individual’s gender identity.”
Morrison, a former attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and current EPPC Fellow and director of EPPC’s HHS Accountability Project, wrote, “I support the EEOC’s efforts to prevent and remedy unlawful harassment in the workplace. EEOC’s proposed harassment guidance, however, exceeds the Commission’s authority by covering actions and speech not prohibited by law, raising serious religious freedom and free speech concerns.”
The Comment explains, “EEOC makes several claims in the proposed guidance that do not accurately reflect the law. The guidance fails to acknowledge relevant laws protecting employees’ and employers’ free speech and religious exercise.”
Morrison urged the EEOC when finalizing its guidance “to not overstate or misstate the law, drop its gender identity pronoun and bathroom mandates, and explicitly acknowledge legal protections for free speech and religious exercise in the workplace.”
Religious, pro-life, educational, legal, and policy organizations and experts also submitted public comments raising their concerns on EEOC’s proposed guidance.
Others submitting comments on the proposed guidance include:
- 61 Members of Congress led by Senator James Lankford and Representatives Christopher Smith and Erin Houchin
- American Association of Christian Schools
- American Center for Law and Justice
- Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Director, The Conscience Project
- Christian Employers Alliance
- Christian Legal Society, joined by National Association of Evangelicals, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, Center for Public Justice, and Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance
- Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
- Family Research Council
- Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
