Testifying Before Congress

This Thursday, I’m heading to the House of Representatives to testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet about workplace harassment in the federal judiciary and the need for statutory reform to address the problem.

The Purple Campaign has been advocating for stronger workplace protections for federal judiciary employees on Capitol Hill and in the courts, and I’m grateful to the Committee’s Chairman, Rep. Hank Johnson, for calling this important hearing: “Workplace Protections for Federal Judiciary Employees: Flaws in the Current System and the Need for Statutory Change.”

The hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and you can watch live on the House Judiciary Committee’s website here. My testimony will focus on the anomalous lack of federal labor law protections for the more than 30,000 people who work in the federal judiciary, and the need for Congress to enact the Judiciary Accountability Act (the JAA) to remedy the situation.

The Purple Campaign recently filed an amicus brief that was joined by 40 other civil rights organizations in Jane Roe v. United States et. al, a case brought by a judicial branch employee who was sexually harassed by her supervisor and then retaliated against when she came forward. As I wrote in an op-ed for Fortune last week, as a judiciary employee Jane Roe is uniquely and unfairly exempt from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the traditional avenue for bringing a workplace harassment lawsuit.

Rep. Jackie Speier and I explained in an op-ed for Roll Call last year that Congress must take action to protect people like Jane Roe by enacting the JAA. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would provide strong statutory rights and protections against discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and other forms of workplace misconduct to federal judiciary employees.

As I’ll explain in more detail in my testimony on Thursday, the JAA would take the important step of giving judicial branch employees the same anti-discrimination rights and remedies that private sector and other government employees have had for decades. I hope you’ll tune in to watch at 10 a.m. ET!

#PledgePurple,

Ally Coll
Purple Campaign President