07-01-2026
Employer Insight: A group of Emory University Law clinic students petitioned the Supreme Court to consider a case challenging the federal judiciary’s lack of workplace protections for its 30,000 employees, including interns, clerks, probation officers, and public defenders. Among the numerous requests that Emory’s Supreme Court Advocacy Program received to pursue claims, this case was considered priority.
Federal courts do not currently offer their employees a uniform or neutral method to complain or to pursue claims for workplace harassment or discrimination. There is no independent agency that offers an avenue for judicial employees to pursue their concerns - a path that is available to other federal employees.
As law schools support and encourage their students to pursue prestigious clerkship positions, a recent Emory graduate reported to NPR that incoming clerkship candidates may be unaware that they will forego certain workplace protections on the job.
In 1995, Congress extended Title VII protection to its employees but did not extend those protections to judicial employees. The federal judiciary has contended that judicial independence requires insulation from external oversight, thus it continues to police itself. Each of the federal circuit courts has developed its own internal human resources programs for disputes, leaving judges to handle internal complaints from their own direct reports and colleagues. The Emory students argue that this process is biased, and a previous NPR investigation showed that court employees with workplace complaints generally find little recourse.
The Supreme Court asked the Justice Department for a response to the Emory clinic’s petition, which is due in July 2026.