The Fourth Circuit Court recently turned down former assistant public defender Caryn Devins Strickland’s request for a rehearing of her sexual harassment lawsuit against the federal judiciary. Her legal team had withdrawn shortly before her bench trial, a move she argued was improperly sanctioned by the district court. The order from the appellate court judges affirmed that this withdrawal had not been overlooked, countering her claims that the argument was ignored. This decision was issued by Judges W. Duane Benton, Ronald Lee Gilman, and Susan P. Graber, who highlighted that the federal government presented stronger arguments in the case. For more on this development, visit the original article.
This ruling comes after an August decision where the same panel dismissed Strickland’s lawsuit, rejecting her contention that the judiciary’s internal complaint process was flawed, leading to her resignation. The panel had also previously reinstated some of her claims in 2022, but Strickland’s recent petition to the full court for a rehearing was denied. She argued this would prevent attorneys from exiting cases on insubstantial grounds.
Strickland initially filed her lawsuit in 2020, alleging mishandling of a harassment complaint against a supervisor within the Western District of North Carolina’s Federal Public Defender’s Office. Her lawsuit questioned the judiciary’s self-regulation mechanisms for handling employment disputes in more detail.
The case advanced to a bench trial in December 2023, following prolonged litigation. Nevertheless, a federal judge ruled she had received due process, a determination later upheld by the Fourth Circuit. Subsequently, Strickland sought to unseal documents, including the government’s motion to strike her privilege assertion. Her spouse and legal representative, Cooper Strickland, expressed concerns about the denial of this motion due to First Amendment implications. He noted that the government’s decision not to contest the unsealing motion further heightened his concerns.
The judiciary in this case is represented by Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, along with Courtney L. Dixon and Kevin B. Soter from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division. The case remains docketed as Caryn Strickland v. Nancy Moritz et al., case number 24-2056, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.