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This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rescinded its guidance on workplace harassment, in a move that could significantly undermine protections for all workers, but especially those who identify as LGBTQ+. The agency, which plays a crucial role as the federal watchdog that enforces anti-discrimination laws governing the workplace, voted on Thursday to strike down guidance that had been codified in 2024, during the Biden administration. Across nearly 200 pages, the document offered an important update to the EEOCs language on harassmentwhich had not been updated in over two decadesand also incorporated a key Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that extended anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ workers. The guidance included over 70 examples of workplace discrimination that employees might encounter, with a section dedicated to sexual orientation and gender identity. Before releasing the final version back in 2024, there was a customary notice and comment process on the proposed document, during which the agency fielded over 38,000 comments from the public. All that guidance has now been scrapped, with no room for public comment on the decision. (The harassment document has since been taken down and is no longer accessible to the public.) EEOC chair Andrea Lucas suggested that this would not change how the agency approached harassment claims. “Let me be perfectly clear: The EEOC will not tolerate unlawful harassment, as was the case before the guidance document was issued and will remain so even after the guidance document is rescinded,” she said during an open meeting on Thursday. Still, this reversal is a big loss for workers, who remain protected by federal anti-discrimination laws but rely heavily on the agency when they encounter harassment in the workplace. People who experience workplace discrimination typically have to file a complaint with the agency before taking any kind of legal action. By rescinding this guidance, the EEOC has stripped away an important resource for workers (and employers) who are trying to understand what constitutes workplace harassmentand what they can do about it. This decision also cements a seismic shift in the agencys priorities since Lucas took the helm. Under the Trump administration, the EEOC has undergone changes that experts believe have compromised its mission to protect workers rights. After assuming office, Trump immediately fired two EEOC commissionersJocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrowsbefore their term limits were up, breaking with precedent and eliminating the Democratic majority. (Commissioners of federal agencies are usually allowed to serve out their terms, regardless of political affiliation.) He later nominated Brittany Panuccio to join the commission; her confirmation in October secured a Republican majority and restored the three-person quorum required for the agency to revise guidance or pursue certain types of litigation. Over the last year, the Trump administrations attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace have reshaped the agencys priorities. Lucas has explicitly stated that the agency would focus on rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination in accordance with Trumps executive orders targeting DEI programs. Back in December, Lucas even put out a call for white men to report workplace discrimination and potentially recover damages. (This took the form of a video on X, in which Lucas asked: “Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex?”) Revoking the harassment guidance, however, seems to align with a broader agenda to curtail protections for LGBTQ+ and trans workers. A federal ruling last year struck down the section of the EEOCs harassment document that applied to transgender and gender-nonconforming workers, claiming the agency did not have the authority to impose those guidelines on employers; the section stated, for example, that misgendering employees or denying them access to bathrooms in line with their gender identity qualified as workplace harassment. Last year, the EEOC also dropped six cases that involved allegations of discrimination from trans or gender-nonconforming workers. Even prior to the Trump administrations directives, however, Lucas was a dissenting voice on the commission. When the harassment guidance was finalized in 2024, Lucas had taken issue with the section that outlined protections for trans and gender-nonconforming workers and ultimately voted against it, under the guise of protecting womens rights in the workplace. Lucas echoed anti-trans sentiment by noting biological sex is real and binary, suggesting that women would be harmed by the updated guidance. Womens sex-based rights in the workplace are under attackand from the EEOC, the very federal agency charged with protecting women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination at work, she wrote in a statement at the time. Women in the workplace will pay the price for the Commissions egregious error. By rescinding the harassment guidance outright, however, Lucas has effectively weakened anti-discrimination protections for all kinds of workerswomen included.
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The U.S. is no longer part of the World Health Organization. After the Trump administration declared its intention to pull the country out of the global public health agency one year ago, on Thursday it formally followed through, ending its commitment to the organization after 78 years. Withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO was one of President Donald Trumps day-one priorities. He signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, declaring that the U.S. would be departing due to its criticisms of the agencys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, after the required one-year notice period, the deed is done. Following its withdrawal from the WHO, the United States will continue to lead global health efforts independentlyengaging partners directly, deploying resources efficiently, and ensuring accountability to the American people outside of WHO structures, a fact sheet on the U.S. Health and Human Services website reads. In an unusual joint statement issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. government aired a series of grievances about the agency, which it accused of working against American interests. From our days as its primary founder, primary financial backer, and primary champion until now, our final day, the insults to America continue, Kennedy and Rubio wrote. On a practical level, the U.S. will no longer send any funding or staff for WHO initiatives. All federal employees working at its main Geneva location or in other global offices have been recalled. Next month, the WHO will meet to determine which strain of the flu virus to target in the next flu vaccinea consequential public health decision the U.S. looks ready to sit out. Nearly all of the countries in the world are members of the WHO, but the U.S. has been one of the agencys most prominent members and its largest financial backer for decades. A board session scheduled for early February will be the organizations first without the U.S. since its founding. Fear for the future of global health The Trump administrations decision to walk away from the WHO has had a year to sink in, but its impact is still resonating. When the decision to withdraw was first announced, the American Academy of Pediatrics called on Congress to intervene, warning that WHO membership provides the U.S. a vital perspective into the global health landscape. For more than 70 years, the WHO has played a leading role in protecting, supporting, and promoting public health in the United States and around the world, the professional organization of pediatricians wrote. Withdrawing from the WHO will hamper our countrys ability to predict and respond to major public health emergencies and limit access, communication, and information sharing to a global network of health professionals. Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the decision scientifically reckless and warned that the U.S. will be less equipped to fight illnesses like the flu moving forward. The U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization is a shortsighted and misguided abandonment of our global health commitments, Nahass said. Global cooperation and communication are critical to keep our own citizens protected because germs do not respect borders. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who served under the Obama administration, issued his own dire warning about the U.S. withdrawal on X. Well look back on this as a grave error. Health threats do not respect borders, and weakening global cooperation makes Americans less safe, Frieden said. WHO isn’t perfect, but it is irreplaceable to detect outbreaks early and coordinate emergency responses before they become global crises. Trump has openly expressed his contempt for long-standing alliances that have shaped the modern global orderand he hasnt been shy to end them. The president capped off a tense week, defined by global worries over his threat to invade Greenland, with one more insult for U.S. allies by claiming that NATO soldiers stayed “a little off the front lines during the war in Afghanistan. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the remarks frankly appalling.
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Traveling soon? If you’re planning on flying domestically, starting February 1, which is next Sunday, you may have to pay an extra fee at airports across the U.S. if you haven’t yet gotten your TSA-approved Real ID yet, or don’t have another compliant from of ID (see list below). The program, which the Department of Homeland Security launched in May, requires travelers to have an updated, Real ID-compliant driver’s license, or other approved form of ID, in order to pass through airport security checkpoints and board flights. If you are one of the estimated 6% of U.S, travelers that still don’t have a Real ID, or another acceptable form of documentation, you may be charged a $45 fee starting next week. If that’s you, TSA recommends passengers verify their identity using the new ConfirmID process, and pay the $45 fee prior to going to the airport. However, you still run the risk that you “may not be allowed through security and may miss your flight.” TSA urges travelers who do not have a Real ID to schedule an appointment at their local DMV to update their ID as soon as possible. What is the Real ID, again? As Fast Company previously reported, the Real ID is state-issued drivers license, or learner’s permit, that has been enhanced so it’s federally compliant. It’s marked with a gold or black star in the upper right-hand corner to indicate that it meets the security standards of the REAL ID Act. Those stars vary from state to state. (A California Real ID is marked with a golden bear; while here in Massachusetts, you’ll find a simple gold star.) I don’t have a Real ID, what else can I use to get through security? Here are some other TSA-approved forms of ID: U.S. passport U.S. passport card State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID) DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST) U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents Permanent resident card Border crossing card An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs) HSPD-12 PIV card Foreign government-issued passport Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766) U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
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