LGBT and Women Workers Deserve a Labor Secretary Who Is Committed to Their Well-Being
This morning, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee is holding a confirmation hearing on the to be secretary of labor. Acosta’s nomination came after President Trump’s first choice — fast food CEO Andrew Puzder — was forced to withdraw his nomination due to his documented hostility to workers’ rights as well as numerous damning personal allegations, including that he assaulted his ex-wife and failed to pay taxes on the work performed by a longtime housekeeper.
While Acosta’s nomination has not generated the kinds of tabloid-ready headlines that repeatedly dogged Puzder, civil rights advocates remain vigilant — and so must the members of the Senate HELP committee. Under the administration of President George W. Bush, Acosta served as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division from 2003-2005. Writing in The Atlantic, that it was during Acosta’s tenure at the Civil Rights Division when subordinates skirted civil service laws and engaged in politicized hiring that did significant damage to the division. A former deputy section chief under Acosta stated bluntly that he “presided over the politicization of the civil rights division.”
In addition to politicizing the work of civil rights enforcement, Acosta — in at least one instance — was dismissive of efforts to guard against voter suppression tactics. In 2004, he wrote a letter to a federal judge — in a case that the Justice Department was not even a party to — that the discriminatory practice of “” was not prohibited by the Voting Rights Act. This position was subsequently rejected by the court.
It is for these reasons that the ACLU recently joined a letter to the leadership of the HELP committee that was authored by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The letter raises concerns about Acosta’s nomination, specifically whether he would allow political interference with the career staff in the Labor Department.
The labor secretary must be someone who is committed to safeguarding the well-being of American workers — especially women. Female workers make up half the workforce, comprise the majority of low-wage workers, and are the sole or primary breadwinners in nearly half of our nation’s families. Low-wage workers disproportionately are women of color. They also are especially susceptible to , a pernicious driver of the gender wage gap.
In addition, LGBT people — particularly LGBT people of color — are to be living in poverty. Transgender workers continue to experience significant rates of workplace discrimination and harassment. According to a recent survey, who had a job in the past year reported being fired, denied a promotion, or experienced some other form of mistreatment related to their gender identity or expression.
The members of the HELP committee must conduct a thorough review of Acosta’s record and strongly question his commitment to the core mission of the Labor Department, including enforcing critical labor laws and civil rights protections for everyone.
The new labor secretary must:
- Commit to vigorously enforce our nation’s labor laws. The Labor Department is responsible for enforcing a wide range of laws that affect workers, especially women. These include the Fair Labor Standards Act, including minimum wage and overtime as well as break time for nursing mothers; the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows people to leave to care for a new or adopted baby or the serious health condition of oneself or a family member; and the Occupational Safety and Health Act on workplace hazards. In recent years, the Labor Department has issued regulations that bring home health care workers — long excluded from federal labor law protection — under the protection of the FLSA. This vulnerable group, overwhelmingly women of color, deserve a labor secretary who will assure that the regulations are given full effect.
- Understand federal contractors’ nondiscrimination obligations. The Labor Department oversees the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which monitors the employment practices of companies that hold contracts with the federal government. Doing business with the government is a privilege and comes with the obligation of being a model employer. Numerous regulations require federal contractors to take aggressive steps to end sex discrimination in pay and work conditions (like sexual harassment), provide paid sick days for employees, and safeguard the rights of LGBT workers.
Senators must ask Acosta how he will ensure, given his disturbing track record at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, that there is no political interference with OFCCP’s career staff in their work to enforce nondiscrimination requirements for federal contractors. He must also be asked whether he is committed to fully enforcing the prohibitions against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination by federal contractors that were put into place by a landmark executive order signed by President Obama in 2014. Given the Trump’s administration’s shameful disregard for the well-being of transgender students, this question is no small matter.
- Respect the challenges faced by today’s working women. It is imperative that the labor secretary nominee demonstrate an understanding of the distinct obstacles women face as caregivers and as targets of abuse. A commitment to a vigorous Women’s Bureau — the Labor Department division charged with conducting research about women’s workforce participation, informing women about their rights on the job, and advising employers on how to best fulfill their legal obligations — is essential.
While the ACLU takes no position on cabinet appointees including Mr. Acosta, we will continue to thoroughly analyze track records and shout from the rooftops about what people should expect from our nation’s leaders. LGBT and women workers — indeed every single worker in this country — deserve a labor secretary who is committed to their well-being and will safeguard their protections under the law. Does Mr. Acosta meet those qualifications? Members of the Senate HELP committee have an obligation to find out.
Learn More About the Issues on This Page
-
Press ReleaseOct 2024
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
At Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender YouthAt Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON – In their brief defending the state’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has asked the Supreme Court to expand its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and allow the state to target transgender people’s autonomy over their own bodies, too. In U.S. v. Skrmetti, three Tennessee transgender youth and their families are challenging a state law that prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that are allowed for minors who are not transgender. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, the families argue that the ban violates their Equal Protection rights under the 14th Amendment. In the brief filed today, Tennessee relies on the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health in an attempt to justify its ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender people. The brief cites to Dobbs at least 10 times in sweeping arguments to justify government sex discrimination. “We’ve seen just how far extreme politicians will push to deny us our reproductive freedom, from banning abortion to threatening IVF to even threatening to put doctors in jail for providing emergency care, with deadly consequences for women’s lives,” said Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “The same politicians who are trying to control women have now set their sights on transgender people and their families and are trying to control their bodies and lives. Allowing politicians to continue down this road could hold severe implications for the freedom of all people to decide what is right for their own body.” Tennessee claims that their ban on gender-affirming care does not discriminate on the basis of sex even though it bans minors of one sex from accessing health care it allows to members of another sex. A transgender girl is barred from taking doctor-prescribed estrogen because Tennessee considers it “inconsistent” with her birth-assigned sex of male but a cisgender girl with a birth-assigned sex of female is permitted to take estrogen for any purpose including to affirm her female gender identity. “Since this Project’s founding by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we have adamantly challenged efforts to limit who we can be based on our gender or ability to bear children,” said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. “Tennessee’s attempt to limit who young people can become based on their sex shares a through-line with our nation’s history of subjugating women in the name of biology. The fight for each of us to live fully and authentically must include trans people. There is no ‘transgender’ exception to the U.S. Constitution.” In April 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP sued the state of Tennessee to block S.B. 1, which prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that it exempts for minors who are not transgender. Following a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, S.B. 1 took effect in July 2023. Since 2021, 24 states have banned hormone therapies for transgender youth. “Laws like Tennessee’s are not benign regulations of medical care; they are discriminatory efforts to exclude transgender people from the protections of the Constitution,” said Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “These bans represent a dangerous and discriminatory affront to the well-being of transgender youth across the country and their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.” -
Press ReleaseSep 2024
Women's Rights
Civil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion CareCivil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, a broad coalition of labor, workers’ rights, and gender justice organizations — led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Arkansas, and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) — filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) regulations implementing the landmark Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), including the regulations’ explicit protection for workers who have abortions. The PWFA, which took effect last year, was the culmination of a decade-long campaign to secure access to reasonable accommodations for workers with temporary limitations caused by “pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.” The EEOC’s regulations provide comprehensive guidance to workers, employers, and the courts about the statute’s range of protections, including job-protected time off for medical treatment and recovery. The amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit supports the EEOC in a challenge by 17 red states that are trying to block the PWFA regulations’ coverage of accommodations for abortion-related care. In June, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed the states’ challenge, and the states appealed to the Eighth Circuit. Their appeal includes a request that the Eighth Circuit issue a preliminary injunction of the regulations’ abortion provisions. The ACLU-NWLC brief details the federal law’s longstanding ban on discrimination against workers who obtain abortions – protection the PWFA intended to continue. The brief also documents the accounts of workers whose health and jobs were put at risk when their employers denied them accommodations, including time off, for abortion care. Such accounts illustrate the urgent need for clarity with respect to the PWFA’s coverage of abortion-related accommodations, and the devastating medical and financial consequences if such accommodations are denied. “Abortion has long been recognized as part of the full spectrum of workers’ pregnancy-related needs that are protected by the law, ” said Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Women's Rights Project. “The states’ challenge has created uncertainty, and seeks to deprive workers of essential, job-protected time off for abortion care, posing significant health risks and leading to forced pregnancies. The EEOC regulations are vital to ensure pregnant workers don't have to choose between their health and their jobs.” “Extremist politicians are demonstrating repeatedly their willingness to risk women’s health to advance their anti-abortion agenda,” said Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for Education and Workplace Justice at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “Let’s be clear: abortion care is pregnancy-related care, and stripping essential protections for abortion from the PWFA would endanger the health and economic security of pregnant workers.” “The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and its regulations provide a lifeline for workers who need accommodations during the most critical periods of their lives. Attempting to strip away these protections, particularly for abortion-related needs, is an affront to the rights and well-being of pregnant workers,” said John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “All people in all aspects of pregnancy, including abortion, should be treated with the care and consideration they deserve. We stand firmly with the EEOC in defending these essential protections.” A copy of the brief can be found here. -
PodcastSep 2024
Women's Rights
How Sue Bird Is Supercharging Women's SportsHow Sue Bird Is Supercharging Women's Sports
-
Press ReleaseJul 2024
Women's Rights
LGBTQ Rights
ACLU Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX RuleACLU Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX Rule
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.J. Res. 165, a Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the U.S. Department of Education’s final Title IX rule providing guidance to schools on protecting students from sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and other forms of sex discrimination. Mike Zamore, ACLU National Policy and Government Affairs Director, had the following response: “Today’s vote to completely repeal the Title IX rule takes a sledgehammer to the government’s ability to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn free from sex discrimination and harassment. Stripping critical civil rights protections from LGBTQ students and students who are pregnant and parenting - as this resolution would do - is something that all members of Congress should strongly oppose. This is also not how Congress should act to protect the rights of students who face disciplinary action under Title IX because passing this resolution would prevent future rulemaking to ensure fair processes in school disciplinary proceedings.” The ACLU’s letter urging a “No” vote on H.J. Res. 165 can be found here: /documents/aclu-urges-no-vote-on-h-j-res-165 The ACLU’s statement on the final Title IX rule can be found here: /press-releases/155090