PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona has joined a coalition of 20 states to stop the Biden Administration from enforcing what they believe are “expansive, and unlawful interpretations” of federal education and employment laws.
Arizona joins Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia in filing the complaint.
The coalition is challenging federal guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Education (Department) concerning sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. The guidance purports to resolve highly controversial and localized issues such as whether schools must allow biological males to compete on girls’ sports teams, whether employers and schools may maintain sex-separated showers and locker rooms, and whether individuals may be compelled to use another person’s preferred pronouns.
The federal agencies claim that the guidance simply implements the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, but that decision did not address any of the issues covered by the guidance.
The coalition’s lawsuit argues that the agencies have no authority to unilaterally resolve these sensitive questions, let alone to do so without providing the public with notice and an opportunity to comment.
The multistate coalition asks the Court to declare the EEOC and Department guidance invalid and unlawful and to prohibit their enforcement.