<P> The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as well as certain state fair employment practices agencies (FEPAs) enforce Title VII (see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e - 4). The EEOC and state FEPAs investigate, mediate, and may file lawsuits on behalf of employees . Where a state law is contradicted by a federal law, it is overridden . Every state, except Arkansas and Mississippi, maintains a state FEPA (see EEOC and state FEPA directory). Title VII also provides that an individual can bring a private lawsuit . An individual must file a complaint of discrimination with the EEOC within 180 days of learning of the discrimination or the individual may lose the right to file a lawsuit . Title VII only applies to employers who employ 15 or more employees for 20 or more weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (42 U.S.C. § 2000e (b)). </P> <P> In the early 1980s, the EEOC and some federal courts began holding that sexual harassment is also prohibited under the Act . In 1986, the Supreme Court held in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), that sexual harassment is sex discrimination and is prohibited by Title VII . This case filed by plaintiff Mechelle Vinson was the first in the history of the court to recognize sexual harassment as actionable . Following 1986, court cases in which the plaintiff suffers no economic loss can potentially argue for a violation of Title VII if the discrimination resulted in a hostile work environment . Same - sex sexual harassment has also been held in a unanimous decision written by Justice Scalia to be prohibited by Title VII (Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., 523 U.S. 75 (1998), 118 S. Ct. 998). </P> <P> In 2012, the EEOC ruled that employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status is prohibited under Title VII . The decision held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity qualified as discrimination on the basis of sex whether the discrimination was due to sex stereotyping, discomfort with the fact of an individual's transition, or discrimination due to a perceived change in the individual's sex . In 2014, the EEOC initiated two lawsuits against private companies for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, with additional litigation under consideration . As of November 2014, Commissioner Chai Feldblum is making an active effort to increase awareness of Title VII remedies for individuals discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity . </P> <P> On December 15, 2014, under a memorandum issued by Attorney General Eric Holder, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) took a position that aligned with the EEOC, namely the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title VII encompassed the prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity or transgender status . DoJ had already stopped opposing claims of discrimination brought by federal transgender employees . </P>

What do title vii and title ix of the civil rights act of 1964 guarantee