EEOC Grants Christian Employers Alliance Perpetual Immunity from Gender Identity Claims

In a settlement announced on August 18, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pledged to permanently abstain from pursuing gender-identity discrimination claims against the Christian Employers Alliance and any organization that later joins the group. The deal follows a lawsuit triggered by EEOC guidance issued under the Biden administration after the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling that Title VII covers gender identity.

The settlement covers the alliance’s existing 20,000+ members and extends the protection to future members, effectively blocking EEOC investigations into such complaints. Former EEOC counsel Karla Gilbride warned that no settlement she has seen offers indefinite protection, especially for future members. The arrangement survives regardless of whether Republican chair Andrea Lucas is replaced by a Democratic appointee. The alliance was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, and its former president Shannon Royce now serves as the EEOC chair’s chief of staff, raising questions about the settlement’s broader public interest.