Democrats demand employee protections after a GAO report reveals sexual misconduct in federal courts

Originally published by The 19th

A report published Tuesday by the federal Government Accountability Office revealed that federal judiciary employees made 566 allegations of misconduct, including more than 40 allegations of sexual harassment and nearly 40 of sex-based discrimination, between fiscal years 2020 and 2022.

In response, Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Rep. Norma Torres of California, are calling for stronger action to better protect judiciary employees.

“Everyone deserves to be safe and respected in the workplace,” Hirono said in a press release. “But this report makes clear that years after its workplace misconduct problems came to light, the federal judiciary will not prevent workplace misconduct, leaving employees vulnerable to abuse without any recourse.”

Torres said in a press release that the federal judiciary must be held to the highest standards.

“If the Judiciary can or will not address these issues adequately, then Congress will do it for them,” she said. “I urge the Judiciary to rapidly establish adequate and transparent systems to handle sexual harassment claims that meet the standard all other government entities adhere to.”

More than 30,000 employees work as law clerks, staff attorneys, office managers and in other positions within the federal judiciary, which includes the U.S. Supreme Court, circuit and district courts.

Over the last decade, a number of sexual misconduct allegations against federal judges have gained national attention. This month, a federal appellate court judge in Alaska resigned after reportedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a law clerk and subjecting his staff to a hostile work environment.

In 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts requested the creation of a working group to “promote an exemplary workplace and to protect Judiciary employees.” A subsequent report released in 2022 made several recommendations to strengthen the judiciary’s policies on addressing misconduct.

Separately from Roberts’ requested working group, a group of five Democratic lawmakers, including Hirono and Torres, requested that the GAO review the judiciary's practices to prevent and respond to workplace misconduct, as well as actions taken since 2017. 

Judiciary employees’ complaints can contain multiple allegations. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, they filed 161 complaints of wrongful conduct, containing 566 allegations of discrimination, harassment, abusive conduct or retaliation. 

According to a chart in the report that does not list exact figures, nearly 40 of the 566 allegations were regarding sex and gender-based discrimination, and more than 40 were for sex and gender-based harassment. A separate category for allegations based on gender identity listed nearly 10 for discrimination and five for harassment. The 19th spoke with Gretta L. Goodwin, director in GAO's Homeland Security and Justice team, but she did not provide exact figures for each misconduct category.

The report made eight recommendations that cover updating workplace conduct training materials, improving data collection and measuring the effectiveness of the judiciary's complaint process.

The GAO began its review process in January 2022 and concluded in June 2024. The GAO experienced significant delays due to a lack of cooperation from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the administrative agency of the United States federal court system. The office told GAO staff that it was conducting its own survey of the judiciary’s policies in the same period and raised concerns about competing survey efforts.

According to the GAO’s report, the agency requested a copy of the administrative office’s survey questions, but was denied. It also requested interviews with employee advisory groups. “After significant delays, the judiciary made one current employee and one former employee available for interviews,” it states.

Following the release of the report, Democrats criticized the administrative office, saying it failed to fully cooperate with the GAO audit.

“The lack of urgency by the federal courts’ administrative office to root out sexual harassment is shameful, and the unjustifiable defiance by the office to assist with this important study is in keeping with the AO’s reticence to embracing meaningful transparency,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Additional steps must be taken to ensure the judiciary protects its employees from misconduct with robust policies and procedures.”