USA – DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Connie N. Bertram, Bertram LLP
reporting illegal actions. New York, for example, protects employees from retaliation for reporting activities they reasonably believe violate public health, safety, fraud and environmental statutes and regulations. 8.2 Sexual Harassment and/or Violence Title VII and state and local statutes and regulations protect employees from sexual harassment. During the past year, there have been significant changes in the scope of protection available for sexual harass - ment at the federal level. An Executive Order issued in January 2025 – called “Defending Women from Gen - der Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” – limited the protections available for discrimination based on gender identity, transgender status and sexual orientation. In May 2025, a federal court vacated portions of the 2024 “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Work - place” (the “Guidance”) of the EEOC, finding that the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority by expanding the definition of sex under Title VII “beyond the bio - logical binary”. Shortly after the decision was issued, the EEOC deleted the parts of the Guidance on their website vacated by the decision. In December 2025, the EEOC took steps rescind the Guidance entirely. Meanwhile, states have expanded the protections available to sexual harassment claimants under state law. In 2025, California substantially expanded the scope of its statute, including increasing the statute of limitations to ten years and adding another two-year look-back window for claims. Also, Colorado added to its anti-discrimination laws provisions relating to the use of a person’s correct name and pronouns, regard - less of gender identity. State laws have also continued to expanded employers’ obligation to conduct man - datory sexual harassment training. 8.3 Other Forms of Discrimination and/ or Harassment Including Bullying and/or Mobbing There are no comprehensive federal or state laws that provide a cause of action based on bullying in the workplace. However, if the bullying is based on a protected characteristic and is severe and pervasive, it may be protected by federal or state anti-discrimi -
nation statutes. In addition to the protections provided by federal, state and local anti-harassment statutes: • California requires training on “abusive conduct” as part of harassment prevention training; • New York requires anti-bullying training for certain industries; • Tennessee enacted a law encouraging public employers to adopt anti-bullying policies, offering them protection from lawsuits if they comply; • Virginia and Maryland require anti-bullying training for certain state employees; and • Utah mandates training for state agencies related to abusive conduct. 8.4 Criminal Cases As noted in section 2.2 Communication to Authori- ties , if an employer believes in good faith that a cur - rent or former employee has engaged in a criminal act, it should consider taking action to protect employees. To reduce the risk of claims of malicious prosecution or defamation claim, before making a report to author - ities, the employer should collect and review evidence of the potential criminal violation to ensure that it has a good faith, reasonable basis for making a report. If the authorities investigate the complaint, the employer may need to curtail its internal investigation until the criminal investigation is completed. Employers should consider additional steps in protect - ing employees from an employee who has engaged in a criminal act in the workplace, namely: • notifying the police so that they can monitor the area or provide support during a termination meet - ing; • supporting the potential victim of the crime in mak - ing a criminal complaint against the accused; • hiring private security to monitor the workplace; • notifying the accused that he or she may not come into the workplace or any worksites or contact any employees; • providing a description and picture of the accused to security personnel and directing them not to let the accused on the premises; and • allowing the victim to work remotely during the investigation.
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