Without mentioning Judge Alex Kozinski by name, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Sunday decried recent reports about sexual harassment in the workplace and said the problem warrants “serious attention from all quarters of the judicial branch.”

Roberts discussed the issue in his annual year-end report, just weeks after Kozinski, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit abruptly retired amidst news reports quoting female law clerks and others who stated that he engaged them in unwelcomed and sexually charged conversations and physical interactions.

“We have a new challenge in the coming year,” Roberts wrote. “Events in recent months have illuminated the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, and events in the past few weeks have made clear that the judicial branch is not immune.”

Roberts spelled out his previously announced plan to assemble a “working group” to examine whether changes are needed in the federal judiciary's codes of conduct and guidance to employees “on issues of confidentiality and reporting of instances of misconduct,” as well as “our rules for investigating and processing misconduct complaints.”

The widely used law clerk handbook has already been amended to make it clear that judicial employees can make complaints about sexual harassment without fear of violating the judiciary's code of confidentiality.

In an online essay one of Kozinski's victims, former law clerk Heidi Bond, pointed to the confidentiality rules imposed on clerks as a key factor that made it difficult for her to file a complaint against the judge.

Roberts referred to that concern even as he expressed “great confidence in the men and women who comprise our judiciary.” Roberts wrote, “I am sure that the overwhelming number have no tolerance for harassment and share the view that victims must have clear and immediate recourse to effective remedies.”

Improving and clarifying procedures for complaints was one focus of a December 20 letter to Roberts and other judiciary officials, signed by more than 700 former and current law clerks and law professors. Jaime Santos, one of the organizers of the letter campaign, said Sunday she was pleased that Roberts addressed the issue.

“A robust review and effective changes can have a huge impact on the lives and careers of future law clerks and other employees, and on the legal profession as a whole,” said Santos, an associate at Goodwin Procter. She urged Roberts and other leaders to “formally include past and current law clerks in that working group. If there is anything that the last six months of reporting on sexual harassment have taught us, it is that the individuals most affected by sexual harassment need to be part of the conversation about how to prevent and address it.”

The chief justice's comments about sexual harassment came on pages 11 and 12 of his 16-page report, suggesting that it may have been a late addition. The first 10 pages described and praised the response of judicial branch employees to hurricanes and wildfires that occurred in 2017.

“Judges and court employees responded to daunting challenges with extraordinary neighborliness, generosity, and dedication,” Roberts said. One example came before Hurricane Maria reached Puerto Rico in September. The Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons relocated 1,200 detailed individuals to mainland facilities in Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Georgia, which also meant that judges, translators, federal defenders and other judicial personnel in those states would be needed to handle emergency proceedings and the like.

“I happened to be in Jackson meeting with Mississippi federal judges when word arrived that a large number of the detainees would be sent to that state,” Roberts wrote. “Many of the judges in the room raised their hands on the spot to volunteer to take on the extra work.” He also said court employees from around the country contributed funds and care packages to their colleagues in affected areas.

By federal law (28 U.S.C. 452), Roberts noted, U.S. courts are “deemed always open” for official business—an easy rule most of the time. “When disaster strikes,” he said, “it can be honored only through the tireless efforts of judges, court employees, Administrative Office staff, and the many friends of the judiciary.”