The EEOC’s Identity Crisis: Considering the Commission’s Future in the Absence of Independence
We cannot allow important matters of national policy to be reduced to simple matters of political posturing . . . . Our personal views on the laws we enforce are, at most, inconsequential. We have sworn to uphold the law. Footnote #1 content: Juan Williams, EEOC Chief Faults Administration on Curbing Bias, WASH. POST (Aug. 2, 1983), https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/08/03/eeoc-chief-faults-administration-on-curbing-bias/278ef3b3-4bd7-4578-aca1-d742c193a688/.
In 2022, Dylan Bringuel, a transgender person, took a job at a Holiday Inn Express in Jamestown, New York. Footnote #2 content: The EEOC’s Identity Crisis, REVEAL (May 31, 2025), https://revealnews.org/podcast/workplace-discrimination-anti-transgender-eeoc/ [https://perma.cc/3FFW-VFBJ]. This Essay was inspired by the reporting of Reveal, a “nonprofit, independent, investigative radio show and podcast.” About Us, R EVEAL, https://revealnews.org/about-us/ [https://perma.cc/95KQ-U2E5] (last visited May 17, 2026). Despite assurances of support during their interview, a supervisor called them “it” and “a transformer” during their first days on the job. Footnote #3 content: The EEOC’s Identity Crisis, supra note 2. When Bringuel reported the harassment, they were fired soon thereafter. Footnote #4 content: Id. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) investigated Bringuel’s claim and, in 2024, sued Holiday Inn under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Footnote #5 content: Complaint at 1–2, EEOC v. Boxwood Hotels, LLC, No. 24-CV-00902 (W.D.N.Y. Sep. 25, 2024). After President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, the Commission reversed course and moved to dismiss the case with prejudice, citing a new executive order that eliminated federal recognition of transgender and nonbinary identities under the banner of “defending women from gender ideology extremism.” Footnote #6 content: Unopposed Motion to Dismiss EEOC’s Complaint at 1–2, EEOC v. Boxwood Hotels, LLC, No. 24-CV-00902 (W.D.N.Y. Feb 14, 2025), Dkt. No. 32 (alterations omitted); see also Exec. Order No. 14168, 90 Fed. Reg. 8615 (Jan. 20, 2025) (“Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”). The order also requires the Chair of the EEOC to prioritize investigations and litigation to ensure single-sex spaces. Id. at 8617.
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