'It's coming from the top': Trump’s EEOC abandons trans man’s workplace discrimination case

Flint Del Sol thought the government might tell him no. He did not expect it to say the quiet part in writing.For nearly three years, Del Sol, an educator and author, had been pursuing a workplace discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against his former employer, a Southern California school district where he taught for more than a decade. As a transgender man, he says he filed the complaint after years of threats, scrutiny, and what he described as discriminatory treatment tied to his transition and his advocacy for LGBTQ+ students.Related: EEOC won't advocate for trans and nonbinary people, in keeping with Trump's 'two sexes' order'It's coming from the chain of command'Then, on Tuesday, he said, an EEOC investigator called with an update. The agency could no longer move forward.“I’m sorry to let you know, but we are not pursuing transgender discrimination cases,” Del Sol recalled the investigator telling him. “It’s coming from the top.”Del Sol asked the investigator to confirm the conversation by email. The response, reviewed by The Advocate, was a gut punch.“That is correct,” the investigator wrote. “We are not permitted to conduct/continue any investigation regarding transgender cases, and that is coming from the chain of command.” Flint Del Sol received an email from an investigator with the EEOC that said that his discrimination case investigation would not move forward because those at the top have said that transgender people's claims cannot continue.Email obtained by The AdvocateThe investigator said Del Sol’s immediate federal right-to-sue request would be issued in the coming weeks and that he could use it to pursue his allegations in federal court. The letter must be used within 90 days of issuance, the investigator wrote.“I wasn’t just being shuffled to the bottom,” Del Sol told The Advocate. “I was being told outright that I wasn’t worth protecting.”The Advocate requested commen