Texas AG again sues Biden administration for its workforce protections of transgender employees

One day after a federal judge in Texas expanded a ruling that blocks protections for LGBTQ students in the state in the context of Title IX, Attorney General Ken Paxton has again filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, this time challenging workforce protections for transgender employees.

The lawsuit, submitted on Thursday in federal court, targets the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Justice Department, arguing that the agency's guidelines "purports to preempt the State's sovereign power to enact and abide by its workplace policies" and raises the "forced choice of either changing their policies at taxpayer expenses or ignoring the Guidance and accepting impending enforcement actions and increased costs of litigation and liability."

In a statement, Paxton expressed his opinion on the suit:

"The Biden-Harris Administration is attempting yet again to rewrite federal law through undemocratic and illegal agency action. This time, they are unlawfully weaponizing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in an attempt to force private businesses and States to implement 'transgender' mandates — and Texas is suing to stop them."

The EEOC's guidance, released back in April, clarifies what constitutes harassment under federal law. The guidelines specify that denying employees accommodations for their gender identity—such as restricting bathroom access based on gender identity or consistently using incorrect names and pronouns—constitutes workplace harassment and is unlawful.

It's not the first time that Paxton has targeted the guidance. In July, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rejected an earlier request to block the EEOC's guidance without ruling on the merits of the request, saying the state's challenge required a new complaint because it was filed against a new document.

The conflict between both parties goes back to 2021 when the state sued the Biden administration over earlier EEOC guidance on how to determine what constitutes harassment in the workplace. Back then, U.S. District Judge Kacsmaryk ruled in favor of Paxton, determining that the Biden administration's earlier protections for LGBTQ employees exceeded the scope of a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that extended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to cover gay and transgender workers.

The lawsuit is the latest of dozens that Texas has filed against the federal government since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, many of these cases focusing on cultural conservative issues.