In 75th lawsuit against Biden, Paxton sues to stop new gender identity guidelines for employers

Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking legal action against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and members of the Biden Administration to challenge LGBTQ+ workforce protections.

The recently issued guidance states that it is considered workplace harassment to deny accommodations to an employee based on their gender identity, such as preventing them from using the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. Although this guidance is not legally enforceable, it helps define what constitutes harassment under the EEOC.

In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Paxton argues that the EEOC specifically targeted Texas with this new guidance because some Texas employers are not required to comply with federal policies that prohibit discrimination. Paxton claims that implementing this guidance would cause financial and sovereignty-related harm to the state of Texas, as well as redefine the concept of “sex” under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Paxton has been quite active in his legal battles against the federal government since President Biden took office in January 2020. He has consistently positioned himself as a defender against the Biden administration’s agenda and has made Texas a prominent player in conservative legal disputes.

This lawsuit is reminiscent of a previous motion from October 2022, where Paxton sued the Biden administration over a 2021 EEOC guidance that outlined parameters for assessing harassment and the Supreme Court’s position on Bostock v. Clayton County, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Paxton has been a vocal opponent of policies supporting gender affirmation, claiming that the 2021 guidance imposed the Biden administration’s “political agenda” on Texas. In that case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled in… (Please provide more information about the ruling or specify what you would like to know about it.)