Andrew Gordon Discusses in SHRM Whether Employers Should Follow State or Federal Preferred Pronoun Regulations

Andrew Gordon was recently featured in SHRM, discussing what steps employers should take if state and federal laws on pronoun use conflict with one another. Nine U.S. states passed legislation this year regulating pronoun use, including Florida, prohibiting teachers and students from sharing their preferred pronouns.

Gordon said employers should follow the law that protects their workers the most.

"Generally speaking, federal law trumps state law," he noted. "If you have a state law that provides less protections than the federal law, from a technical standpoint, the federal law governs and should be followed."

However, where state and local laws provide more protection than federal law, Gordon noted that "[i]n those scenarios, the state law governs and should be followed."

Read the full article

Media Coverage

• "States Are Banning Preferred Pronouns at Work, but Federal Guidelines Promote Inclusion. What Should HR Do?" was published by SHRM on October 25^th, 2023.