Summary

This Issue Brief analyzes Judge Barrett’s jurisprudence on issues relevant to corporate interests on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the court on which Judge Barrett has sat for the entirety of her three years on the federal bench. This Brief highlights a few of Judge Barrett’s most troubling opinions in several different issue areas: discrimination in the workplace, access to justice, and arbitration. Across these different issue areas, a common theme emerges: Judge Barrett routinely sides with corporations and employers over consumers and employees. As Accountable.US recently documented, throughout her tenure as a judge on the Seventh Circuit, Judge Barrett has sided with corporations more than 76% of the time.[1] Based on this record, there is significant reason to worry that Judge Barrett, if she is confirmed, will continue the Roberts Court’s trend toward improperly favoring the interests of big businesses over all Americans. This is particularly concerning given that she has been nominated to take the seat of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who knew all too well the ways that corporations could use their power to discriminate against employees, limit access to justice, and avoid accountability for harm to consumers and workers.

[1] Press Release, Accountable.US, Report: Coney Barrett Sided with Corporations Over People 76% of the Time (Sept. 29, 2020), https://www.accountable.us/news/report-coney-barrett-sided-with-corporations-over-people-76-of-the-time/.