Judiciary Releases First Annual Report on the Workplace

All federal courts have put in place an effective dispute resolution plan giving employees multiple pathways to report and address workplace concerns, and an increasing number of them are opting to use the new processes, according to the first Annual Report on the Judiciary Workplace released today.

The report details the extensive steps taken since 2018 to ensure Judiciary employees are protected from conduct that is discriminatory, harassing, retaliatory, or abusive and that they have access to effective measures to seek redress for their concerns when issues arise.

“The Judiciary is committed to ensuring that employees are treated with dignity and respect, and enjoy a workplace free from discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and abusive conduct,” wrote Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, in the report’s opening message.

Among the highlights in the report are:

• As of the end of 2023, all federal courts had adopted and implemented an employment dispute resolution (EDR) plan based on the Judiciary’s Model EDR plan, approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States in 2019. Every employee now has a menu of options for redressing workplace misconduct – informal advice, assisted resolution and the filing of a formal complaint. A recent study by the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) found that “the three processes for dealing with possible misconduct are working well.”
• There are now trained professionals at the national, circuit, and local court levels who can provide confidential advice to employees about their options when they have workplace concerns. In addition to the national Office of Judicial Integrity, each circuit now has a Director of Workplace Relations. DWRs are experienced working in the federal or state courts and a number of them have backgrounds in employment law.
• To increase transparency, the Judiciary now tracks and publishes the number of Judicial Conduct and Disability (JC&D) complaints filed by Judiciary employees. The numbers show that employee-initiated JC&D complaints against judges are rare. In fiscal year 2021, 11 of 1,304 complainants in JC&D matters were Judiciary employees. The following fiscal year, just one of 1,533 JC&D complaints was brought by a Judiciary employee. In fiscal year 2023, the number was three.
• JC&D data reflects the fact that the vast majority of JC&D complaints are filed by litigants and prisoners challenging a judge's decision and are unrelated to the Judiciary workplace.
• More than 40 percent of EDR matters concluded between fiscal years 2021 and 2023 were resolved through mutual agreement or settlement, an indication that the Judiciary is making progress toward its goal of addressing concerns quickly and early, without the need for adversarial proceedings.
• The number of employees availing themselves of the new avenues increased. In fiscal year 2023, there were 94 active EDR matters across the Judiciary, a substantial increase over the 53 EDR matters in fiscal year 2021. Even though this number still represents a small fraction of Judiciary employees, the increase suggests that employees are becoming more aware of their options and increasingly willing to use them to address workplace concerns.

Two outside entities recently evaluated the Judiciary’s changes to its workplace processes and procedures – the FJC and NAPA research team and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Both found that significant aspects of the system are working well and validated the Judiciary’s overall approach.

The GAO found that the Judiciary’s practices largely align with those recommended by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The report said, “The protections that apply to judicial employees are similar to the statutory protections that apply to most federal employees. In some ways, certain protections exceed those that apply by statute to most federal employees.” 

Both reports also made recommendations for further refinements to workplace processes and procedures, which the Judiciary is studying.

Judge Conrad said, “We welcome constructive review and analysis of our processes and policies. And we take the recommendations from those outside the Judiciary seriously. Providing a safe and respectful workplace is extremely important to all of us in leadership roles, and we will continue to refine and improve our approach as time goes on.”

The annual report is the first of its kind published by the AO’s Office of Judicial Integrity. It was done in response to a recommendation from the Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group, an internal group made up of judges and Judiciary executives created at the direction of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in 2018.