The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted Feb. 26 to affirm that federal agencies may designate bathrooms and other intimate workplace spaces based on employee sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to a Feb. 26 press release from the EEOC, the 2-1 vote in favor of affirming the true sexes of employees determined that federal agency employers may exclude employees such as those who identify as “transgender” from facilities designated for the opposite sex.
The decision arose from an appeal filed by a “transgender” federal employee who challenged an agency policy restricting bathroom access based on sex rather than “gender identity.” The employee argued the policy constituted unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII.
Andrea Lucas, chair of the EEOC, said that the organization’s decision is grounded in the original understanding of the law.
“Today’s opinion is consistent with the plain meaning of ‘sex’ as understood by Congress at the time Title VII was enacted,” Lucas said, “as well as longstanding civil rights principles: that similarly situated employees must be treated equally. When it comes to bathrooms, male and female employees are not similarly situated.”
“Biology is not bigotry,” she added.
The EEOC said it interpreted Title VII using established legal methods, beginning with the ordinary meaning of the statute's text and considering relevant Supreme Court decisions, in the absence of authoritative court precedent.
The Feb. 26 decision also overturned part of a 2015 EEOC ruling that addressed a federal employee’s access to opposite-sex bathrooms based on “gender identity.”
The decision applies only to federal agencies and does not affect private employers or bind federal courts.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, color, and sex.