Time’s Up, the movement against sexual harassment founded by Hollywood celebrities, on Tuesday blasted a report that the Trump administration has yet to add long-awaited guidance on sexual harassment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) online portal.
The group issued the statement following a report from Bloomberg that said while the EEOC has published numerous documents in compliance with an executive order from President Trump requiring a searchable database of all current guidance, sexual harassment guidance has been on hold for more than two years.
The guidance was first drafted under the Obama administration but has been delayed due to disagreements within the administration about whether harassment of LGBTQ employees should be considered sexual harassment, according to the news outlet.
“By the EEOC’s own estimates, sexual harassment is experienced by up to 85 percent of women during their careers. We’re not going to solve this widespread problem if the Trump Administration can’t even agree to allow the EEOC to put guidance about how it enforces the law into a database that purports to house ‘all EEOC guidance documents currently in effect,’” Time’s Up President and CEO Tina Tchen said in a statement.
“The possibility that the Trump administration’s refusal to unequivocally protect LGBTQIA+ workers from sexual harassment is causing the delay of final enforcement guidance is horrifying,” she added. “In this day and age, clear guidance from the EEOC that discrimination against LGBTQIA+ individuals is impermissible and unlawful gender-based harassment is overdue.”
The Hill has reached out to the EEOC for comment.