Health Care / Medicine

Former EEOC Employee Targets Firms That Dare To Make Healthcare Accessible For Their Employees

Sometimes the misogyny comes from inside the house.

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Abortion LegislationOctober is known for Halloween and spooky shenanigans. Gratuitous amounts of Snickers, your former CVS becoming a Spirit Costume Store, and cute Nightmare Before Christmas reruns are expected for these thirty or so days.  That said, some people are spending their October pursuing particularly ghoulish activities like trying to scare employers with fears of retaliation for providing healthcare access.

A management-side law firm says a former Trump EEOC official is using her prior position to scare employers that are considering providing abortion travel benefits.

The Littler Workplace Policy Institute sent a letter Friday requesting that the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s current legal counsel investigate its former General Counsel Sharon Fast Gustafson for warning employers that the commission would take enforcement action over employee abortion travel benefits.

The first thing to know is that Ms. Gustafson currently has no EEOC authority. At the level of real risk, Gustafson’s warning carries about as much gravitas as phoning in threats to a department store manager that the department store manager has a bad attitude. However, it could be an actual threat it someone with actual authority was the one issuing the warning.

Over 120 large employers in states where abortion is now illegal after the US Supreme Court’s June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization have announced coverage of travel for abortion care, according to Rhia Ventures. That number is expected to double over the next few years in the wake of the decision, insurance advisory company Willis Towers Watson PLC reported this month.

Given that many of the Justices failed to actually respect stare decisis like they said they would during their hearings, several law firms have taken it upon themselves to try and stabilize the otherwise precarious situation folks with uteruses are in so long as the Christian 6 are in power. Thankfully, Gustafson’s  behavior is being brought to light rather than being swept under the rug.

“Ms. Gustafson is using her former position to intimidate employers who provide or are considering providing a benefit that is otherwise legal under Federal law in furtherance of her own law practice,” the firm said in the letter to the EEOC, “and personal beliefs misleading and intimidating employers who lawfully provide travel benefits under their health plans for those who need medical care that is not available in their own states.”

Littler requested that the agency “formally investigate” whether Gustafson’s actions “constitute a breach of ethical rules or regulations.”

I don’t know if using your former position as a government representative to intimidate others is a punishable offense, but if it is — and Gustafson rightly faces the consequences for doing so — we will be happy to keep you updated on the story’s developments.

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Law Firm Calls Out Ex-EEOC Counsel’s Note on Abortion Travel (1) [Bloomberg Law]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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