Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Thursday, January 22, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace Meng (NY-06), Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Mark Takano (CA-39), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) released the following statement on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s expected rescission of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. This rescission follows the EEOC failure to respond or engage with a November letter from Democratic Caucus leaders, which called on the agency to retain the guidance and protect women and vulnerable workers.  

“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is supposed to protect vulnerable workers, including women, people of color, and LGBTQI+ workers, from discrimination on the job. Yet, since the start of her tenure, the EEOC Chair has consistently undermined protections for women, people of color, and LGBTQI+ workers. Now, she is taking away guidance intended to protect workers from harassment on the job, including instructions on anti-harassment policies, trainings, and complaint processes—and doing so outside of the established rulemaking process. When workers are sexually harassed, called racist slurs, or discriminated against at work, it harms our workforce and ultimately our economy. Workers can’t afford this—especially at a time of high costs, chaotic tariffs, and economic uncertainty. Women and vulnerable workers deserve so much better.”

Background:

In November, Chairs of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Congressional Equality Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus wrote a letter to stop Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Andrea Lucas from rescinding the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The EEOC’s harassment guidance enables employers to better prevent and address harassment, improving the safety of all workplaces.

In their November letter, the Members explained that the harassment guidance is essential to creating a safe and inclusive workplace, and rescinding it would put workers, especially women workers, LGBTQI+ workers, and workers of color in danger. The letter demanded that the EEOC Chair neither rescind nor weaken the harassment guidance.

Despite the Members’ letter, on January 14, the EEOC noticed that they would consider rescinding the guidance at their January 22 meeting, scheduled for later this morning. We expect the rule to be rescinded at this meeting. 

In addition to the harm of the rescission of the guidance itself, the EEOC failed to comply with the regulatory process, skipping a comment period for the rule change. Additionally, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs canceled scheduled meetings and failed to schedule meetings that Members of Congress requested on the rule. These meetings are usually a part of the process for significant rules being considered. This is unacceptable and a dangerous precedent. 

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