[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E401-E402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS AND PUBLIC DEFENDER 
               SERVICE EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 25, 2022

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of 
Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Employment Non-
Discrimination Act, which would apply the District of Columbia Human 
Rights Act of 1977 (DCHRA) to employees of the local D.C. courts and of 
the D.C. Public Defender Service (PDS). In February, the D.C. Court of 
Appeals held in Robertson v. District of Columbia that the DCHRA, which 
protects employees of the D.C. government and of 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 PDS are unique entities, and they sometimes 
fall through the regulatory cracks. 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. This bill

[[Page E402]]

would ensure that their employees have comprehensive protections from 
and remedies for employment discrimination.
  While employees of the local D.C. courts and of PDS are protected by 
federal anti-discrimination laws, the DCHRA provides much broader 
protections and remedies for employees than federal anti-discrimination 
laws.
  While the D.C. Council may have the authority to pass such a bill 
itself, 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.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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