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Employers are required to adopt policies designed to prevent harassment. When that fails, employers have a strict obligation to stop harassment once they learn it is taking place. But if management doesn’t know harassment is happening, that obligation doesn’t kick in and it won’t be liable.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s combined FY 2025 Agency Performance Report and FY 2027 Agency Performance Plan signals a clear shift in enforcement priorities under Chair Andrea Lucas.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, under Andrea Lucas’ leadership, recently voted to undo the extensive harassment guidance it issued back in 2024. That did not sit well with some members of Congress, who have now introduced a bill that would reverse the EEOC’s reversal.

Employers shouldn’t assume that just because no one is reporting harassment, it’s not happening.

When HR launches a discrimination or harassment investigation, it’s a good idea to stay attuned to how that investigation may look to outsiders a year or so down the line. That requires those performing the investigation to put aside any preconceived notions about what happened.

Chances are, at some point an employee is going to come to HR and tell you they believe they have been discriminated against, harassed or otherwise been treated unfairly. How you respond to that complaint can mean the difference between losing a lawsuit and all that entails or resolving the problem early and avoiding liability.

The EEOC made the request days after regaining a quorum, allowing Andrea Lucas to move forward with revising or eliminating the guidance altogether. She voted against the guidance in 2024, particularly the parts that found that harassment based on gender identity violates Title VII’s sex-discrimination provisions.

There’s a new legal decision that offers guidance on how far employers should go in anti-harassment policies and what does not amount to sexual harassment.

Here’s what EEOC commissioner Kalpana Kotagal predicts for 2026.

Last month, we told you about a federal appeals case that ruled that an employer may not be liable for third-party sexual harassment that occurs off-premises even if the harasser is a client or customer. Now, another federal court has ruled that an employer isn’t liable for third-party harassment on the premises, either.