For the first time ever, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits seeking to protect transgender workers under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The lawsuits, which were filed by the government agency on Thursday, are part of a growing movement to ensure the rights of transgender people in the workplace.

The suits accuse a Michigan funeral home and a Florida eye clinic of illegally firing employees after they began living their lives as transgender women. According to the EEOC, both companies violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination.

Amiee Stephens, an embalmer and funeral director, worked at the Detroit-based funeral home for six years until she was terminated in 2013 after telling her boss she was transitioning from male to female, the EEOC said.

Likewise, Brandi Branson was fired in 2011 from the Lakeland Eye Clinic after undergoing a gender transition to female.

"Branson began wearing feminine attire to work, including makeup and women's tailored clothing," states the lawsuit, according to The Associated Press. "Branson observed that co-workers snickered, rolled their eyes and withdrew from social interactions with her."

In response to the suit, the eye clinic issued a statement, promising to fight the charges.

"Lakeland Eye Clinic has not and will not discriminate against any employee because of gender transition or any other basis and we intend to vigorously defend the case," a company spokesperson told Politico. "Our company attorneys have not seen the complaint and therefore we cannot comment on the case."

Back in April 2012, the EEOC effectively expanded the meaning of "sex discrimination" in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include discrimination against transgender people, reports Fortune.

"[Federal law] prohibits employers from firing employees because they do not behave according to the employer's stereotypes of how men and women should act," EEOC attorney Laurie Young said.