New EEOC guidance—first update since 1999—strengthens enforcement of workers’ protections against sexual harassment, addresses virtual and online harassment
Senator Murray: “This much-needed and long-awaited update to the EEOC’s harassment guidance will help ensure the safety of workers and reflects the realities of today’s workplace—I’ll keep working with President Biden and my colleagues to stand up for workers, including by passing my BE HEARD Act.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) final Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The new guidance—the EEOC’s first update on harassment since 1999—reflects changes in enforcement of the law to better reflect Congress’s intent in today’s society, such as addressing changes in technology that have affected the workplace including through virtual or online harassment, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County recognizing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on gender orientation and sexual discrimination.
“No one should have to deal with harassment when they’re just trying to do their job and put food on the table—and thanks to President Biden, we have a Democratic majority on the EEOC standing firmly with workers. This has been a priority of mine for years because everyone should be safe from harassment and discrimination where they work—and guaranteeing that is good for employees, good for morale, and good for business. This much-needed and long-awaited update to the EEOC’s harassment guidance will help ensure the safety of workers and reflects the realities of today’s workplace—I’ll keep working with President Biden and my colleagues to stand up for workers, including by passing my BE HEARD Act.”
As the former top Democrat on the Senate Labor Committee and a longtime champion of gender equality, Senator Murray has long been a leader when it comes to fighting workplace harassment. In 2018, Murray spearheaded a historic report on how workplace harassment is impacting workers in industries across the country. She pressed the Secretaries of Education, Labor, and HHS under the Trump administration on what they were doing to prevent harassment at their workplaces and pressed trade associations representing industries with some of the highest rates of sexual harassment to be more transparent and accountable. In 2021, Murray reintroduced her Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act, which would take critical steps to prevent workplace harassment and ensure workers can seek accountability and justice. Murray was also a lead advocate for the confirmation of Kalpana Kotagal and Jocelyn Samuels as EEOC Commissioners, delivering a pro-worker majority on the EEOC for the Biden administration.
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