EEOC Votes to Rescind 2024 Guidance on Workplace Harassment

Types : Alerts

On January 22, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to rescind its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The Commission voted 2-1 along party lines, and the guidance document itself was removed from the EEOC’s website within hours.

The 2024 Guidance had presented legal analysis of standards for claims of harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information, and age (40 or over). The guidance regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity had previously been criticized, consistent with the Trump Administration’s focus on erasing protections for transgender individuals, and it was vacated by a federal court in Texas v. EEOC, 785 F.Supp.3d 170 (N.D. Tex. 2025). A limited repeal or revision of the document to exclude those elements would have been unsurprising, though unnecessary given the court’s ruling in EEOC v. Texas. Instead, the EEOC rescinded the Guidance in its entirety.

This repeal creates substantial uncertainty for businesses that have relied upon or referenced it in crafting practices and procedures to address workplace discrimination and harassment. The document contained helpful examples of scenarios employers might encounter, affording them the opportunity, if they chose, to navigate problems independently. Now, employers who relied on it – whether to seek guidance from those examples or in drafting employee handbooks – are left with a void, and may need to reassess handbooks and other internal materials, or consult with counsel more regularly in handling workplace harassment claims.   

What doesn’t this rescission mean? It does not change federal law or Supreme Court precedent. Title VII still exists, and employment discrimination is still prohibited under the law. And though the EEOC’s 2024 Guidance came under fire for suggesting that certain conduct towards transgender individuals in the workplace is unlawful, Bostock v. Clayton County – which holds that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is impermissible sex discrimination under Title VII – is still good law. In short, it remains true that a person cannot be fired for being transgender; what has become far murkier is what conduct towards transgender individuals in the workplace would constitute a hostile environment in the eyes of the EEOC.

Importantly, the rescission of the 2024 Guidance means that that there is no other current EEOC guidance that employers can use to determine if they are meeting their legal obligations regarding workplace harassment. The 2024 Guidance stated that it consolidated and superseded “several earlier EEOC guidance documents: Compliance Manual Section 615: Harassment (1987); Policy Guidance on Current Issues of Sexual Harassment (1990); Policy Guidance on Employer Liability under Title VII for Sexual Favoritism (1990); Enforcement Guidance on Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc. (1994); and Enforcement Guidance on Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors (1999).” All of the listed documents that the 2024 Guidance superseded are several decades old and would not address recent legal developments. Employers and employees are now forced to navigate claims of workplace harassment without clear guidance from the EEOC.

If you have questions about what the recission of the 2024 EEOC Guidance means for your business, or need assistance in navigating a workplace discrimination complaint, contact our Labor and Employment Department.