Survey Finds Sex Bias, Harassment in Federal Courts

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has been a trailblazer on issues of sex discrimination and harassment. But a new study paints a less favorable picture for women in the federal courts of the nine states that make up the circuit.

About 60% of a sampling of 900 women lawyers who practice in the federal courts said they had been subjected to unwanted sexual advances or other forms of sexual harassment in the past five years, according to a preliminary draft of the survey prepared for release today at the circuit’s annual conference.

Most of the reported harassment was by other lawyers and clients, but 6% said they had been harassed by judges. The report did not say whether any formal complaints had been filed against judges.

The survey found that seven of 34 female judges reported hearing federal judges make disparaging remarks about a woman lawyer’s “presumed sexual orientation” when discussing her legal work. Five female judges said they had heard other judges make similar comments about jurists who are women.

Objectionable comments from the bench were reported by sizable numbers of women lawyers: 37% said judges often or sometimes cut off women lawyers more abruptly than men, one-third said they had seen judges address women lawyers less professionally than men, and 18% said judges often or sometimes singled out women lawyers for disparaging or demeaning remarks.

“This pleading must have been prepared by a woman,” one unnamed judge was quoted as saying. Another allegedly asked a visibly pregnant woman whether he should call her “Miss” or “Mrs.,” and told her “Ms.” was not an option in his courtroom.

Several court employees complained that judges had shown them pornographic material in obscenity cases.

The study was based largely on questionnaires completed by 3,500 lawyers from around the circuit and 232 federal judges.

The 9th Circuit, the largest of the appeals courts, has issued several important rulings expanding rights of women in the workplace. One decision last year required judges to view sexual harassment claims from the standpoint of a “reasonable woman.”

The report appeared to take issue with one appeals court judge, Alex Kozinski, who said in a recent article that lawsuits should not be used as the primary weapon against sexual harassment. That view “is premised on men’s power to continue to oppress--and to fire--women illegally,” the report said.

The circuit covers California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the northern Mariana Islands.