This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released long-awaited updated Workplace Harassment guidance.  The guidance was posted for public review (https://www.eeoc.gov/proposed-enforcement-guidance-harassment-workplace) and public comment (https://www.regulations.gov/document/EEOC-2023-0005-0001).  This new guidance is an update to guidance that was first released for public comment back in 2017 and never finalized but which has now, according to the EEOC, been updated to reflect legal and societal changes “including the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the #MeToo movement, and emerging issues, such as virtual or online harassment.”

             The 2020 Bostock decision held that sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act includes bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  The EEOC’s new guidance outlines protections for LGBTQ+ workers from harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity including provisions related to misgendering and denying access to a bathroom consistent with an individual’s gender identity.  The guidance also includes protections related to harassment based on a woman’s reproductive decisions, such as decisions about contraception or abortion.

             As of this writing, the public comment period on the new guidance is set to close on November 1, 2023 and there is no set date for final adoption of the new guidance.  Still, employers are advised to review this guidance as the standards set forth within may guide future EEOC enforcement actions and other legal claims.Replace this text with the article body.