Latest
Woman killed in Times Square stabbing, suspect shot dead by police‘Start being serious’: Canada’s Carney hits back at US officials as tariff talks stall – liveFairness for growers is food security for AmericaGOP hardliners threaten rebellion over stopgap funding billMicrosoft 365 outage drags on, but things are improvingOlivia Rodrigo is standing up for the vulnerable. I wish Taylor Swift would do the same | Arwa MahdawiShelly’s new $50 security camera watches your home without a subscriptionWoman killed in Times Square stabbing, suspect shot dead by police‘Start being serious’: Canada’s Carney hits back at US officials as tariff talks stall – liveFairness for growers is food security for AmericaGOP hardliners threaten rebellion over stopgap funding billMicrosoft 365 outage drags on, but things are improvingOlivia Rodrigo is standing up for the vulnerable. I wish Taylor Swift would do the same | Arwa MahdawiShelly’s new $50 security camera watches your home without a subscription
← Signal: State & Power

EEOC Agrees to Permanently Exclude Christian Employers Alliance Members from Gender Identity Discrimination Investigations

Confirmed1 source · Sep 1, 2026

The federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace discrimination protections has pledged in perpetuity not to investigate gender identity discrimination claims against members of a conservative Christian employer group.

EEOC Agrees to Permanently Exclude Christian Employers Alliance Members from Gender Identity Discrimination Investigations
Image via The Intercept

What happened

On August 18, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a lawsuit with the Christian Employers Alliance by agreeing never to pursue gender identity discrimination complaints against the organization's members—both current and future members, for as long as they maintain membership. The settlement contains no expiration date and explicitly blocks EEOC investigators from examining such complaints. The Christian Employers Alliance is marketing this protection as a benefit to prospective members, stating "Join CEA and stop being exposed" and "Protected the Moment You're In." The alliance was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal group involved in overturning Roe v. Wade. In early 2025, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas hired Shannon Royce—who was president of the Christian Employers Alliance at the time of the lawsuit—as her chief of staff.

Context

This settlement represents a departure from established EEOC processes, which typically allow religious employers to raise a religious defense against discrimination complaints that investigators then evaluate on the merits. The blanket carveout creates categorical immunity from investigation based on membership in a single organization, a structure former EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride states she has never encountered. The settlement's perpetual scope and applicability to future members mean any employer joining the alliance gains automatic protection from EEOC enforcement of Title VII gender identity protections—a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that established such discrimination as illegal. The structure incentivizes employers to join the alliance specifically to avoid federal scrutiny. The settlement aligns with EEOC Chair Lucas's stated agenda of eliminating trans rights and reflects what Gilbride characterizes as alignment between the EEOC and the Christian Employers Alliance rather than a contested settlement reached by opposing parties.