LGBT Anti-Harassment and LGBT Anti-Discrimination Training

Why Employers Need LGBT Anti-Discrimination Training and Policies

If you already know your company needs LGBT anti-discrimination training and/or anti-harassment training, contact us for a quote or for more information here.

But if you’re not sure why it’s a best practice, read on. One short answer: effective training will reduce the risk of a costly and damaging Title VII lawsuit for discrimination or harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Why do employers need to consider training their employees not to discriminate or harass based on sexual orientation and gender identity? In June of 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia that sexual discrimination barred in Title VII includes discrimination (and harassment) based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (Here’s the EEOC’s guidance document post-Bostock.) Before that, it was an open question whether these were protected categories, which changed depending on the EEOC’s interpretation.

Before Bostock, about half of states had their own civil rights laws with sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories. In addition, some employers not legally required to include these LGBT/LGBTQ-related protected categories did so as a best practice.

But what about employers where this will be a new requirement for their supervisors and employees? They will not only want to change their anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies to reflect Bostock (plus check their employee benefits to ensure non-discrimination). They will also want to conduct LGBT anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training for their workforce; protections in these areas may be a brand new concept for some of their employees. And apparently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been aggressively enforcing Title VII during the pandemic and encouraging reporting by employees.

Even companies that incorporated sexual orientation and gender identity into their policies’ protected categories may want training on these points if their employees haven’t received it recently. For more information, see our blog post on the effects of Bostock and best practices for companies.

Best Practices for LGBT Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Training

We have been providing LGBT anti-discrimination and anti-harassment for a number of years, before California (our home state) required it. Here are a few best practices for these trainings:

• Consider combining LGBT anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training with a refresher on preventing discrimination and harassment on other protected categories as well.
• Courses for non-supervisor employees may want to focus on anti-harassment, with a module on how to prevent LGBT discrimination in hiring for any non-supervisors who serve on hiring committees so they know what not to ask or consider.
• Courses for supervisors may want to focus not only on LGBT anti-harassment training but also on preventing LGBT discrimination in connection with various commonly made decisions, including hiring, performance evaluations,etc.

As mentioned, we have been providing harassment and discrimination prevention for years. Our trainer, Alisa Shorago, has over 15 years of litigation experience previous to her twelve years of training experience and brings credibility to training that is both useful and engaging. She has spoken multiple times at the Annual SHRM Conference and has been interviewed by media on harassment prevention.

Alisa A. Shorago, J.D.

If you would like more information on our live, instructor-led webinars that cover how not to harass or discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity, please contact us.