Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 30, 2024 – The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has published updated guidance on workplace harassment for the first time in nearly 25 years. This long overdue guidance is based on a comprehensive set of protections that are firmly grounded in decades of legal and regulatory interpretations as well as the lived experiences of workers across the nation.

Harassment continues to plague America’s workplaces and can greatly impact the lives of workers and occurs both in-person and online. Between Fiscal Year 2016 and 2023, more than one-third of all discrimination charges received by the EEOC included an allegation of harassment. Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families, released the following statement:

“Too many women workers, across many different sectors, have had to navigate gender- and race-based stereotypes and biases and power imbalances in their workplaces that have made them targets of harassment and varying forms of discrimination. No worker should have to endure workplace harassment in order to keep their job, nor should they put their economic security and stability at risk just because they want to work free of discrimination and escape unacceptable working conditions. This guidance is a much-needed, long-overdue step in the right direction to make clear the full scope of protections for all workers, to help shield as many workers as possible from varying forms of harassment,” said Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “The National Partnership commends the EEOC for updating critical guidance to protect more workers from unlawful, and pervasive harassment in the in-person, virtual and hybrid workplace. Workers deserve to feel safe and respected in their workplace, regardless of their race, religion, family or pregnancy status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and more. Importantly, drawing on ample case law, the guidance makes clear that these protections against harassment are inclusive, covering many different types of workers, to avoid creating narratives that pick and choose which workers are deserving of protection and which workers can be left behind.”

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