More than 100 allegations of abusive conduct were reported by federal court employees between 2021 and 2023, says the federal judiciary’s first workplace report. The report, released in response to concerns about how the judiciary handles workplace harassment, defines abusive conduct as “a pattern of demonstrably egregious and hostile” behavior that interferes with an employee’s work or creates an abusive environment.
It details the steps the federal court system has taken since 2018 to provide employees with pathways to report and address workplace concerns, including hiring individuals to offer confidential advice to workers about their options, reports the Washington Post. Judiciary leaders have sought to encourage more employees to report misconduct since Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in California retired in 2017 amid allegations of workplace sexual misconduct.
Chief Justice John Roberts and others have strongly resisted calls from advocates and members of Congress who have backed legislation to impose independent oversight on the courts and extend antidiscrimination protections to the judiciary’s employees. Critics say problems have persisted, citing the case this summer of an judge in Alaska who gave up his lifetime appointment after he was investigated and found to have engaged in sexual misconduct with his employees. The report released Wednesday details 105 allegations of abusive conduct, along with 89 allegations of retaliation for reporting misconduct and 29 alleged violations of whistleblower protections. It details scores of other allegations of misconduct, including discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, age, disability and religion. In the Alaska case, a law clerk filed complaints against Judge Joshua Kindred with the federal Office of Special Counsel, which said the ex-clerk and the Justice Department reached a settlement. Judge Robert Conrad, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, pointed to multiple investigations into Kindred’s conduct by the court system and the recommendation by the judicial council that he resign as a “robust example of our judicial conduct structure.”
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