It is the mission of the Office of Legal Affairs and Fair Practices to eliminate and prevent discrimination in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity in employment through compliance with the federal, state, and local civil rights employment laws and regulations; the fair and voluntary resolution of EEO disputes and; education and outreach.
The Maryland Judiciary seeks to reflect the diversity of our communities by ensuring equality of opportunity for job applicants, employees and public users of the Judiciary’s services without regard to race, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, transgender identity and expression, and genetic information.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Investigate complaints of discrimination, retaliation and harassment, including sexual harassment, filed by employees and public users of the Judiciary’s programs and services.
- Review, evaluate and develop policies and practices to ensure compliance with the requirements of state and federal laws, regulations and executive orders regarding equality of opportunity for employees and public users of the Judiciary’s programs and services.
- Disseminate the Judiciary’s policies on Equal Employment Opportunity to promote Judiciary-wide understanding of rights and responsibilities concerning equal opportunity.
- Prepare Annual Report of the Equal Employment Opportunity.
- Assure compliance with Orders from external agencies, such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights.
- Facilitate requests for religious accommodation by employees, job applicants and other public users of the Judiciary’s programs and services.
- Plan, develop, and coordinate with other Judiciary units to present training on such topics as diversity and inclusion, sexual harassment, retaliation, religious accommodation and Limited English Proficiency.