Advocates Say Labor Department Rule On LGBT Job Bias Lacks Details

BuzzFeed - The Labor Department has left many key questions, particularly related to transgender workers, unanswered. The department says "more guidance" will be forthcoming. Labor Secretary Tom Perez (Photo credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) and the new federal contractor rule published this week. WASHINGTON — LGBT advocates say a long-awaited Labor Department rule to protect employees of federal contractors from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination that was published this week lacks specificity and that further guidance from the department is needed. "Given where the rule is at this point, guidance is critical moving forward," the Human Rights Campaign's legal director, Sarah Warbelow, told BuzzFeed News on Thursday. Among the unanswered questions advocates have raised are why the rule includes no guidance on how employers can avoid taking discriminatory actions when an employee transitions at work, whether transition-related health care exclusions are still permitted unde