Chairman Johnson's Opening Statement: Hearing on “Workplace Protections for Federal Judiciary Employees: Flaws in the Current System and the Need for Statutory Change”

Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, delivered the following opening statement for the hearing on: "Workplace Protections for Federal Judiciary Employees: Flaws in the Current System and the Need for Statutory Change."

Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing on "Workplace Protections for Federal Judiciary Employees: Flaws in the Current System and the Need for Statutory Change."

The purpose of this hearing is simple: the more than 30,000 women and men who work for our federal courts deserve a workplace free from sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. And yet, the federal civil rights statutes that protect nearly every civilian employee in the country—public or private—do not extend to them. This is by design: policymakers in the judiciary have waged a decades-long campaign to stop Congress from remedying this grave injustice. As hard as it may be to believe, the same judges who are obligated to enforce our foundational anti-discrimination laws have fought off every attempt to extend those same laws to their own employees.

The results are as predictable as they are devastating. At our subcommittee hearing on this topic two years ago, we heard about the tremendous and unconscionable impact it had on Olivia Warren, who testified about the abuse she endured as a law clerk and about how the system failed her when she reported that abuse.

But these results are not inevitable. Thanks to Ms. Warren, her fellow witnesses, and many other experts and whistleblowers, we now have the Judiciary Accountability Act, bipartisan legislation that will give judiciary employees meaningful rights against workplace misconduct.

While this legislation provides a pathway for real change, until it passes, judicial branch employees continue to be harassed and discriminated against with little recourse. Time and time again, representatives of the judiciary have told us that there isn't a problem, that we should let them handle it themselves. But yet, time and time again, we hear from employees that the system is not working.

Not only is it not working, but we continue to hear how the system worked against employees when they tried to report wrongdoing. Some of them, fearing retaliation, have chosen to remain anonymous. Others cannot speak because of nondisclosure agreements the judiciary has shockingly forced them to sign.

But three former judiciary employees are here today, willing to speak out—Ms. Clark, Ms. Strickland, and Ms. Minor, I especially want to thank you for being with us today. I know that it wasn't an easy choice, but your testimony brings us that much closer to giving every judicial branch employee the foundational rights they deserve. You are making a difference, and we are forever in your debt. Thank you.

In closing, I want to read from the powerful letter Ms. Warren submitted for today's hearing.

"When I made the difficult choice to testify," Ms. Warren writes, "I naively hoped that no one else would have to do so. I am in awe of the bravery of the witnesses today, and heartbroken that more individual courage is required to continue to expose the depth and breadth of harassment in the judiciary.

"I hoped that the judiciary would take decades of calls to action seriously, especially in light of the repeated revelations over the past four and a half years. But instead of meaningfully investigating a problem that every other workplace also faces and is under legal obligation to address, members of the judiciary prefer to minimize the problem, applaud themselves for establishing working groups, and write law review articles extolling purported progress. The inaction on this eminently actionable problem remains baffling and deeply painful. It is a stain on our judiciary, and today marks yet another sad and shameful day in a long line of sad and shameful days."

"I hope that Congress will enact this bipartisan legislation and step in to guarantee basic workplace protections for the 30,000 employees of the federal judiciary. I hope that members of the legal profession, most of whom continue to remain silent and disengaged, will support this call to action. And I hope that one day our courts will be deserving of public confidence in the promise of equal justice for all."

Powerful words from an extraordinary woman.