Biden Administration Executive Order Underlines Benefits of an LGBTQ Anti-Harassment Training Program

Diversity and inclusion will only become more important to employers in the coming years, a fact underlined by President Biden's recent executive order on workplace discrimination. Biden's order mandates all federal agencies to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Further, federal agencies must take all lawful steps to make sure that federal anti-discrimination statutes that cover sex discrimination prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The order references the United States Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton Cty., 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020), discussed in this Hinshaw blog post, which held that federal sex discrimination workplace protection laws apply to LGBTQ workers. The order makes clear his administration interprets Bostock to apply to all laws that prohibit sex discrimination, so long as the laws do not contain sufficient indications to the contrary. Those laws include Title IX of the Education Amendments, the Fair Housing Act, and section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, along with their respective implementing regulations

Although the executive order only applies to the federal government, the Bostock ruling applies to private “employers,” as defined by Title VII. Employers should consider re-examining their policies, practices and procedures that impact employees  based on sex and ensure compliance with the law. Workplace training programs like Hinshaw’s LGBTQ Corporate Equality Training Program can help in this process, while also helping create a more inclusive workplace, especially for employees who identify as part of the LGBTQ community.

Benefits of Hinshaw's training program include:

• Multi-media presentation delivered virtually with Hinshaw attorneys leading the training and discussions, and can accommodate as many individuals from your organization as would like to invite
• Updated to include discussion of COVID-19 issues and related concerns for employers and their LGBTQ employees
• Program meets the compliance requirements of state discrimination and anti-harassment laws
• Supports achievement of 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI)

If you'd like to learn more about the Training Program, please contact Vincent Rizzo or Connie Montoya.