Judiciary employees filed 17 complaints against federal judges from fiscal 2020 through 2022, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examining efforts to address workplace misconduct within the judicial branch. Allegations included abusive conduct, religious discrimination, and discrimination and harassment based on pregnancy. These complaints were made under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act. In one incident, a judge was privately reprimanded, and in another, found to have created a hostile work environment (GAO report).
Judicial complaints recently made public include the Second Circuit judicial council’s decision to back the dismissal allegations against an unnamed judge after pledging to fix the issues raised in the complaint (Bloomberg Law). Earlier this month, Joshua Kindred, a former federal judge in Alaska, resigned after a judiciary inquiry found he sexually harassed his clerk and created a hostile work environment for other employees (Bloomberg Law).
Separate from these 17 complaints, judiciary employees also filed 161 complaints under the employment dispute resolution system (EDR) from fiscal 2020 through 2022. These EDR complaints included more than 500 misconduct allegations, with discrimination being the most frequent. The number of allegations increased from 124 in fiscal 2020 to 336 in fiscal 2022. Judiciary officials speculate the rise could be due to improved trust and familiarity with reporting options or the return of in-person work after the pandemic.
The GAO report noted that while certain protections for judiciary employees align with statutory protections for other federal employees, some are more limited. For instance, the judiciary’s training materials align with practices recommended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), though not all are fully compliant, and variations exist between circuits. Moreover, the judiciary does not track informal reports of workplace misconduct or data on issues resolved outside formal processes, potentially undercounting reported incidents.
The GAO suggested the federal courts should begin tracking informal reports to better address workplace conduct issues, although judiciary officials expressed concerns about confidentiality. The report also emphasized the need for formal evaluation of policies using comprehensive data, such as that from a recent national climate survey, to ensure workforce protection and policy effectiveness.
A spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) stated that the office made considerable efforts to cooperate with the GAO study, although they faced challenges securing participation from employees and advisory groups. Despite these hurdles, the GAO reported interviewing two judges, 10 circuit workplace relations directors, and other AO staff.
For further reading, visit the original article at Bloomberg Law.