In December 2017, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States issued a call urging the Judiciary to ensure every employee of the Judiciary had a safe workplace. Shortly afterwards, the Federal Judiciary Workplace Working Group (WCWG) was created. From the recommendations provided by the working group, in 2019 the Judicial Conference adopted revisions to the Judiciary’s Codes of Conduct. In 2022, WCWG provided additional recommendations; however, many reforms remain to be implemented.

California congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, just released a “startling” 200 page joint study by the National Academy of Public Administration and the Federal Judicial Center. The study as directed by Congresswoman Torres and funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, is an unprecedented joint report by the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) assessing the Judiciary’s internal systems to prevent and manage workplace sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct.

The report details systemic failures of the Judiciary to prevent workplace sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct, including 34 recommendations for reform. It comes a week after U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred, a appointed to the District of Alaska, resigned amid sexual misconduct claims. An internal investigation found Kindred had created a hostile work environment, encouraging his clerks to rate people based on sexual desirability. Kindred also had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one clerk.

Courts are required to have employee dispute plans posted on their websites so workers know their rights. Investigators found that only 26% of public websites met all the requirements while 11% of court websites failed to include any workplace conduct information.

“No American should suffer sexual misconduct, abuse, or harassment while on the job, yet it continues even in the halls of our judicial system where decisions about every aspect of our lives are made,” said Congresswoman Norma Torres, “the era of judges abusing their power and taking comfort in an environment that rewards silence and fear are over.”

“It is disheartening to hear about incidents of sexual assault and harassment involving judicial employees who lack trustworthy and safe avenues to report and navigate these horrifying and traumatic encounters. The federal Judiciary must urgently establish robust systems to handle sexual harassment claims, because clearly its longstanding reliance on the good character and conduct of individuals alone has been grossly insufficient.”

“The report reveals startling findings, emphasizing the absolute need for internal reforms. We have waited on the Judiciary to prove it is capable of protecting its employees, and sadly it has failed to do so. Congress will be forced to step in.”

Background: Investigators interviewed a wide variety of employees from judges to Circuit Directors of Workplace Relations. The four main tasks this report assesses are the Implementation of the Model Employment Dispute Resolution (EDR) Plans, Monitoring and Assessing How the Resolution Processes Are Working, Educational and Outreach Efforts Related to Workplace Issues, and Evaluation of Public-Facing Judiciary Websites.

Some of the findings include:

– – No one entity in the Judiciary is tasked with overseeing the systems that prevent or confront misconduct. No one is tasked with monitoring or evaluating the implementation of the Informal Advice process or the formal employee dispute resolution (EDR) process with the exception of the appeals process, which the vast majority of victims never reach. No one is tasked with overseeing how cases are investigated, preventative training, and other preventative measures
– – The Judiciary requires each court to have a plan to address employment disputes (EDR plan) and to post relevant information on its websites so that employees know their rights. Only 26% of public judiciary websites fulfill all the requirements of inclusion of workplace misconduct information. 11% of websites have NO workplace conduct information.
– – The Law Clerk -Judge relationship is especially perilous, and the Judiciary should address underlying structural issues that create power imbalances.
– – There is no national requirement for employees or judges to attend trainings or any preventative educational measures.

Federal Judiciary Has Systemic Sexual Harassment Protection Failures