As a second Trump administration approaches, we’re running out of time to confirm as many federal judges as possible to provide a check on his presidential power and curb his stated policy priorities.
There are 40 federal judicial vacancies and 16 nominations before the Senate right now—as our civil rights hang in the balance, take action now!
National Women’s Law Center and Legal Momentum, together with Holland & Knight LLP and 31 advocacy organizations, have submitted an amicus brief in Sabatini v. Knouse. This appeal is about whether a reported harasser’s defamation suit against a woman who reported him can be immediately dismissed under Massachusetts anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law. Our brief first educates the court on the ubiquity of sexual harassment; that it is dramatically underreported, in part due to concern about retaliation; and that harassers are increasingly weaponizing defamation lawsuits precisely to retaliate against and chill reporting. Second, we discuss why statements made in the context of employers’ sexual-harassment investigations, like the harassment report here, are—and need to be—protected under Massachusetts law.
