Workplace discrimination based on an employee’s sex has been prohibited for decades by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But over the years, there has been some doubt regarding whether a person’s gender identity is similarly protected under federal law. Some courts have sided with plaintiffs and taken the position that the law proscribes discrimination based upon an employee’s gender, but in some locations transgender employees have not been able to bring their workplace discrimination claims.

Last week, however, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission entered the fray and ruled unanimously that discrimination based on gender is a type of sex discrimination and therefore precluded under the law. According to the agency, “The term ‘gender’ encompasses not just a person’s biological sex but also the cultural and social aspects associated with masculinity and femininity.”

The EEOC’s ruling stemmed from a complaint lodged by an applicant rejected for employment by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. That person was a man when she began the application process, but she later discussed with the hiring contractor her plans to switch genders. She claimed that she lost the job because of that revelation.

A number of states have already made gender discrimination illegal. But for a time, EEOC offices in some states would not pursue workplace discrimination claims brought by transgender employees because they were not sure that the law supported such claims. The agency’s ruling now provides clear guidance to those offices, though the agency was careful to note that it had elucidated current law instead of creating a “new cause of action.”

Source: Associated Press, “Commission: Transgender people protected under federal job discrimination laws,” Sam Hananel, April 24, 2012.