Norton Introduces Bill to Protect Employees of D.C. Courts and Public Defender Service from Discrimination

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the first woman to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, today introduced a bill to apply the District of Columbia Human Rights Act of 1977 (DCHRA) to employees of the local D.C. courts and the D.C. Public Defender Service (PDS). In 2022, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that the DCHRA, which protects employees of the D.C. government and private employers from discrimination, does not apply to employees of the local D.C. courts. The court has not ruled on the applicability of the DCHRA to PDS employees.

"The local D.C. courts and the D.C. Public Defender Service are unique entities, and they sometimes fall through the regulatory cracks," Norton said. "They are neither federal nor D.C. government entities, though both were created and are funded by Congress, and their employees are treated as federal employees for some employee benefits. I want to ensure that their employees have comprehensive protections from and remedies for employment discrimination."

While employees of the local D.C. courts and PDS are protected by federal anti-discrimination laws, the DCHRA provides much broader protections and remedies for workers than federal employment anti-discrimination laws.

The D.C. Council may have the authority to pass such a bill itself, but only Congress has the clear authority to do so, given the express limitations in the D.C. Home Rule Act on the Council's authority to legislate on matters affecting the local D.C. courts and given that Congress has generally served as the legislative body for PDS.

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