Harassment Shield for Judiciary Workers in House, Senate Bills

Judiciary workers would get the same antidiscrimination rights and whistleblower protections as other federal employees under legislation proposed in both houses of Congress on Thursday.

A House bill and a companion measure introduced in the Senate follow the judiciary’s own #MeToo-era reckoning in which several judges were accused of workplace harassment.

While many institutions took action to create workplace misconduct protections amid the #MeToo movement, “the federal Judiciary has failed to take effective steps to protect their employees from harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other misconduct,” House Judiciary chair and co-sponsor Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y) said in a statement.

Two key provisions ...