The U.S. commission responsible for enforcing civil rights laws related to workplace discrimination has announced plans to dismiss six cases involving claims of gender-identity discrimination, a development that surfaced on Saturday.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), founded under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, indicated in legal documents that it intends to drop these cases in Illinois, Alabama, New York, and California due to a contradiction with a Trump administration executive order that recognizes only two “immutable” sexes—male and female.

Each of the six cases alleges discriminatory practices against transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals.

In Alabama, one case accused a hospitality group of terminating a gay, non-binary male employee mere hours after the co-owners discovered his gender identity.

Another lawsuit in New York claimed that a hotel terminated a transgender housekeeper who raised concerns about being misgendered by a supervisor, who allegedly referred to them as a “transformer” and “it.”

In Illinois, a complaint alleged that a Wendy’s franchise operator subjected three transgender employees to persistent sexual harassment, including inappropriate inquiries from a supervisor about one employee’s anatomy.

Additionally, cases from Illinois included a transgender cashier at Reggio’s Pizza at Chicago O’Hare International Airport who was outed by her manager, endured racist and homophobic slurs from coworkers, and was fired after voicing her objections.

At a hog farm named Sisbro Inc. in southern Illinois, reports indicated that a male employee exposed himself and inappropriately touched a transgender coworker.

In California, EEOC attorneys accused a manager at a Lush handmade cosmetics store of sexually harassing three employees who identified as gender nonconforming through offensive verbal and physical conduct.

The motion to dismiss these cases signifies a notable shift in the EEOC’s interpretation of civil rights law, which contrasts with a 2015 decision asserting that discrimination against transgender individuals falls under federal sex-discrimination regulations.

This landmark ruling asserted that the U.S. Army had discriminated against Tamara Lusardi, a transgender woman who transitioned while employed, by preventing her from using the same restroom as her female colleagues and continuing to use male names and pronouns to refer to her following her transition.

Last year, the EEOC updated its guidelines, clarifying that the intentional use of incorrect pronouns or denying access to appropriate restrooms constitutes harassment.

The decision to dismiss these six cases coincides with a trend in federal agencies to remove references to transgender identity from their online platforms, although protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation remain intact.

Recently, the National Park Service removed mentions of transgender individuals from its website related to the Stonewall National Monument, a landmark site commemorating the 1969 riots sparked by trans women of color that ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

David Lopez, a former general counsel at the EEOC and a Rutgers law professor, expressed to the Associated Press that dismissing cases on substantive grounds rather than merit is unprecedented for the commission.

Lopez stated, “For the agency responsible for enforcing antidiscrimination laws to retract protections for a specific group amounts to discrimination itself, in my opinion. It represents a complete dereliction of duty.”

According to the EEOC’s website, over 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity were filed in 2023, marking an increase of more than 36% compared to the previous year. However, a link to further details about these forms of discrimination appears to have been removed.

Two weeks ago, Trump dismissed two Democratic commissioners from the five-member EEOC prior to the end of their terms. Subsequently, the acting EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas, a Republican, indicated her intention to align the agency’s efforts with Trump’s executive order on gender.

Lucas emphasized that one of her primary objectives is to “defend the biological and binary nature of sex and its associated rights.”

“Biology isn’t bigotry. Biological sex is real and significant,” Lucas stated. “Sex is a binary concept (male and female) and unchangeable. Acknowledging these facts—along with using language such as appropriate pronouns—cannot be regarded as harassment.”

Later, Lucas confirmed that the EEOC would continue accepting all discrimination claims filed by workers, but those that “implicate” Trump’s order would be escalated for further examination at EEOC headquarters.

Jocelyn Samuels, one of the recently dismissed EEOC commissioners, lamented that Trump’s executive order and the agency’s response is “deeply regrettable.” She voiced concern that the administration’s initiatives to erase transgender identities are extremely damaging to an already vulnerable community and contrary to established laws.