News & Analysis as of

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Statutory Interpretation

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

Sixth Circuit Requires Employer Intent for Customer Sexual Harassment Under Title VII

The Sixth Circuit in Bivens v. Zep, Inc. brushed aside the EEOC’s and several circuit court positions with respect to the standard to be used when determining an employer’s liability under Title VII for sexual harassment of...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Sixth Circuit Imposes Heightened Standard in Non-Employee Sexual Harassment Cases

Saul Ewing LLP on

Recently, in a case titled Bivens v. Zep, Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer will only be liable for a customer's harassment of an employee when the employer intends for such harassment to occur....more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Employer Liability for Non-Employee Acts? Sixth Circuit Imposes High Standard and Rejects EEOC Guidance

Foley & Lardner LLP on

With its August 8, 2025, opinion in Bivens v. Zep, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the EEOC’s guidelines (and split with several other circuits) to hold that the standard for holding an employer...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Sixth Circuit Departs from EEOC and Other Circuits on Employer Liability Standard for Third-Party Harassment

On August 8, 2025, a Sixth Circuit panel in Bivens v. Zep, Inc. held that an employer can only be found liable under Title VII for harassment by a third party if the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Limits Employer Liability for Harassment by Nonemployees

Littler on

On August 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled an employer is not liable for harassment of an employee by a third party unless the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This stark departure...more

Benesch

Sixth Circuit Raises Standard for Employer Liability in Customer Harassment Cases

Benesch on

When is an employer liable for the harassment of an employee by a non-employee? The Sixth Circuit answered this question on Friday in Bivens v. Zep, Inc., holding that Title VII imposes liability for customer (or other...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Looping in Loper Bright to Require the EEOC to Follow Its Enabling Statute

Are the days numbered for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) ability to permit plaintiffs to eschew the administrative process by issuing Notice of Right to Sue letters “on request” prior to 180 days?...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Unanimous Supreme Court Decision Potentially Prompts Future Litigation

The Supreme Court’s June 5, 2025 decision to revive a heterosexual woman’s discrimination suit on the basis of sexual orientation against her employer could open a floodgate of future litigation. In a unanimous ruling...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Supreme Court Sides with Heterosexual Woman: Majority Plaintiffs and Minority Group Plaintiffs Alike Need the Same Evidence of...

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On June 5, 2025—in the midst of heightened scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives triggered by executive orders issued by President Trump as well as various federal agency guidance—the Supreme Court...more

Littler

Senate Committee Questions DOL, EEOC Nominees

Littler on

On June 18, 2025, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing to consider four key nominations for leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Justice Thomas continues to ask litigants to challenge McDonnell Douglas standard

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court majority declined to review a decision affirming summary judgment for an employer in a discrimination case. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, dissented, noting that he...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Pride and Prejudice: Federal Court in Texas Vacates Portions of the EEOC’s Workplace Guidance Protecting LGBTQ+ Employees

Foley & Lardner LLP on

On May 15, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a significant ruling in State of Texas v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (No. 2:24-cv-00173), declaring that the EEOC’s 2024 Guidance...more

FordHarrison

Texas Federal Court Vacates Portions of EEOC's 2024 Title VII Guidance on Gender Identity

FordHarrison on

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently issued a ruling vacating the “gender-identity related portions” of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) 2024 Guidance interpreting Title...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Federal Court Strikes Down Part of EEOC Rule Requiring Accommodations for Elective Abortion Under the PWFA

As we previously reported, in April 2024 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Among other things, the rule stated that...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Federal Court Vacated Gender Identity Portions of EEOC Harassment Guidance: Employer Uncertainty Remains

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A federal district court in Texas on May 15, 2025, vacated the gender identity parts of the 2024 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace (the EEOC Guidance). The...more

ArentFox Schiff

Federal Court Strikes Down Key Portions of EEOC Harassment Guidance

ArentFox Schiff on

On May 15, a Texas federal court vacated portions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, concluding that the agency’s expanded interpretation of “sex”...more

Littler

Federal Court Vacates Portion of PWFA Final Rule Requiring Accommodation for Elective Abortions

Littler on

On May 21, 2025, Judge David C. Joseph of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a ruling vacating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s final rule under the 2022 Pregnant Workers...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal District Court Vacates EEOC Guidance on LGBTQ+ Discrimination

Last week, a federal district court in Texas granted summary judgment to the State of Texas in a lawsuit challenging portions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s workplace harassment guidance dealing with...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Litigate or Arbitrate? Sixth Circuit Decision Looks at Timing of Sexual Harassment Claim

Can you compel arbitration with an employee who is alleging sexual harassment? You may recall that in 2022, Congress enacted the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which precludes...more

Fisher Phillips

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Under Fire: What Employers Need to Know About the Latest Legal Challenges

Fisher Phillips on

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) rules mandating that employers provide abortion-related accommodations are facing intensifying legal challenges now that a federal appeals court allowed a group of states to challenge...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Eighth Circuit Finds State Standing to Challenge EEOC’s Pregnancy Accommodation Rules

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In Tennessee v. EEOC, the Eighth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision and reinstated a lawsuit by 17 states (led by the Tennessee and Arkansas attorneys general (AG)), holding that these states have standing to sue...more

K&L Gates LLP

Loper Bright's Potential Effect on Federal Labor and Employment Law: Possible Consequences for Agencies and Practitioners

K&L Gates LLP on

On 28 June 2024, the US Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (Loper Bright) overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which required courts to defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

No More Chevron Deference: What Does This Mean for Employers?

Foley & Lardner LLP on

From 1984 until June 2024, a reviewing court had to defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes, even if the court would have interpreted the statute differently. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme...more

Mandelbaum Barrett PC

How the Supreme Court’s Loper Decision Overturns Chevron Doctrine and Impacts Employment Law

Mandelbaum Barrett PC on

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, __ U.S. __ (2024), overturning the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, drastically reshapes administrative law....more

Franczek P.C.

Chevron Overturned, Federal Agency Deference Over: What Does This Mean for Employers and Educators?

Franczek P.C. on

On June 28, 2024, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, upending 40 years of judicial precedent holding that federal courts should defer to...more

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