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1 1 (August 16, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveqjt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 0 August 16, 2024 Policies Governing Employment Discrimination and Harassment in the Judicial Branch Several federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 501), protect members of the federal workforce from employment discrimination. Together, these laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 years and older), and disability. They cover various forms of discrimination, including discriminatory harassment. These three statutes account for the vast majority of federal employment discrimination claims. Each applies to most federal employees and job applicants in the executive branch. Substantively, the laws also apply to the legislative branch though the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA). (The CAA incorporates Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies the same standards as Section 501 to nonfederal employers.) These laws largely do not apply to judicial branch employees. In the absence of statutory standards, the judiciary follows its own internal policies when faced with allegations of employment discrimination. In addition, any person who believes that a federal judge (other than a Supreme Court Justice) has discriminated against them may file a complaint under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act (JCDA). This In Focus describes these protections and procedures. It highlights some of the key ways in which they differ from legal protections and procedures covering executive branch workers. (Legislative branch employees have access to different procedures for employment discrimination than executive branch employees. These differences are outside the scope of this In Focus.) Judiciary Polcy The judiciary's Workplace Conduct and Protections policy covers employment discrimination in the judicial branch. It adopts a Model Employment Dispute Resolution (EDR) Plan that each federal district and circuit court must implement. Several judiciary components, including the Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, are exempt and covered by different policies. Scope of Employment Discrimination Protections The Workplace Conduct and Protections policy protects covered persons from discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age (40 years and over), and disability. The policy incorporates the forms of discrimination prohibited by Title VII, the ADEA, and Section 501, including discriminatory harassment that creates a hostile work environment and an employer's failure to provide reasonable religious or disability accommodations. Additionally, the policy forbids abusive conduct, that is, any pattern of demonstrably egregious and hostile conduct not based on a protected category ... that unreasonably interferes with an employee's work and creates an abusive working environment. With respect to the persons covered, the Workplace Conduct and Protections policy is broader than federal employment discrimination law in some respects and narrower in others. Federal employment discrimination statutes generally do not apply to unpaid interns in the executive branch. The judiciary's policy expressly covers unpaid workers, including unpaid interns, externs, and volunteers. Title VII, the ADEA, and Section 501 apply more broadly than judicial policy in that they protect all applicants for employment in covered agencies. The judiciary's antidiscrimination policy covers only applicants who have been interviewed. Substantively, the judiciary's policy and the federal employment discrimination laws protect similar groups and cover similar incidences of discrimination. One difference is that the judiciary expressly prohibits gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation discrimination. Federal statutory law is less explicit. In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court interpreted Title VII to prohibit at least some kinds of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, but those terms do not appear in Title VII's text, and Bostock's precise scope is not entirely clear. Another significant distinction is the judiciary's prohibition on abusive conduct toward employees. Federal antidiscrimination law does not reach any action, no matter how hostile, offensive, or harmful, that is not based on a protected trait (such as race, sex, age, or disability). Remedies and Procedures for Resong Ci aIms The Model EDR Plan establishes the process for resolving many judicial employment discrimination claims. (Certain persons generally covered by the Workplace Conduct and Protections policy, including judges, cannot seek relief under the Plan, and offices of the federal public defender use a separate but similar EDR plan.) The Model EDR Plan tasks three offices with primary responsibility for handling claims covered by the Plan: court-level EDR coordinators, circuit-level directors of workplace relations, and the National Office of Judicial Integrity. The offices have some overlapping authority but distinct roles. For example, each office can provide confidential guidance and referrals, but only EDR coordinators and directors of workplace relations are directly involved in resolving complaints. Employees may choose which office to reach out to. There are three options available to resolve a complaint: Won I Fesedrch Service Ier~ I live hi a ~ '01914

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