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MONDAY, MAY 23 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LOCAL EZ RE B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

Straggler cicadas are

emerging a year late for

last summer’s raucous

Brood X party. B3

MARYLAND

Officials are investigating

after a Confederate flag

was found hanging at

La Plata High School. B4

OBITUARIES

Marilyn Fogel, 69, dubbed

the “isotope queen,”

helped develop the field

65 ° 70 ° 74 ° 69 ° of biogeochemistry. B6

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 4 p.m.

74

°

Precip: 40%

Wind: N

7-14 mph

BY ANN E. MARIMOW

One federal appeals court

judge in D.C. has hired only male

law clerks for the past two dec-

ades. Another judge allegedly re-

fused to speak to a staffer for

weeks after a child-care emergen-

cy caused the assistant to depart

work early one day. Others are

said to have reduced their em-

ployees to tears by yelling or mak-

ing cruel comments about the

quality of their work.

These and other complaints

appear in a confidential work-

place survey conducted for the

federal trial and appeals courts in

the nation’s c apital, an institution

regarded as a steppingstone to

the Supreme Court. It details in -

stances of gender discrimination,

bullying and racial insensitivity,

while underscoring the stark

power imbalance between judges

with life tenure and the assistants

who depend on them for career

advancement.

In the survey, a copy of which

was obtained by The Washington

Post, and in related interviews,

current and former courthouse

employees who acknowledged

having witnessed misconduct de-

scribed their reluctance to file

formal complaints against their

superiors. They cited fears of re-

taliation and distrust that the

federal judiciary’s system for

workplace accountability, which

tasks judges with policing one

another, ultimately would resolve

their concerns.

“There is no point to report-

ing,” said one survey respondent,

“because discipline is nonexis-

tent.”

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of

the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

D.C. Circuit said in a statement:

“We aim to maintain a workplace

in which we all treat one another,

and the members of the public we

serve, with respect and dignity.”

He added that the employee sur-

vey “is an important part of that

SEE JUDGES ON B4

Survey points to bias, bullying by D.C. federal judges

JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST

Judge Laurence H. Silberman attends an event for Judge Judith W.

Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Workplace feedback from support staff includes

fear of reporting, claim that ‘discipline is nonexistent’

BY PERRY STEIN,

HANNAH NATANSON

AND NICOLE ASBURY

School districts in the Washing-

ton region are contending with

the national surge in covid cases

that has resulted in the highest

numbers since the winter omi-

cron surge and left more students

at home isolating.

But this latest spike in cases

arrives after most districts have

lifted masking requirements and

shortened isolation protocols —

and, following federal health

guidelines, the region’s school

leaders say they are not reconsid-

ering a complete overhaul of covid

policies in the final stretch of the

academic year. Prince George’s

County is the only school district

— and one of the few big districts

in the country — that still has a

mask mandate.

According to publicly available

data, the latest spike is not as

severe as the increase in cases

caused by the omicron variant,

which sent many school districts

temporarily back to virtual learn-

ing, though public heath officials

SEE SCHOOLS ON B3

Schools

see rise

in covid

cases

NO PLANS TO REVIVE

STRICT POLICIES

D.C.-area districts

following C DC guidelines

BY LAURA VOZZELLA

richmond — S tate budget n ego-

tiators are so close to a deal that

they’re telling fellow legislators

to set aside June 1 as a possible

date to return to the Capitol for a

vote and urging them to wrap up

haggling over any other bills held

over from the regular session.

But details on what’s in the

compromise being hashed out by

a handful of senators and del-

egates remain a closely guarded

secret — much more than usual

because the General Assembly is

in a special session, with most

legislators back home in their

districts instead of Richmond,

where the dealmaking is under-

way.

While June 1 remains only a

target date, negotiators have

been spreading the word that

they have essentially wrapped up

their work and are merely wait-

ing for House and Senate budget

staffers to reconcile what’s been

agreed to with dollars and cents

in the plan, according to three

SEE BUDGET ON B6

Va. budget

negotiators

signal deal

is close

BY JUSTIN WM. MOYER

I

n a downtown Washington retail

space that was once the real

Woodward & Lothrop building

before it was a real Forever 21,

Michelle Allen examined a real coffee

mug in a faux version of Central Perk,

the fake coffee shop from the sitcom

“Friends.”

Around the corner was a

r e-creation of Joey and Chandler’s

apartment. And a guitar case, set up

to collect money, that was supposed

to be Phoebe’s. And a reenactment of

the set for Monica and Rachel’s a part-

ment where a real person, an em-

ployee said, once proposed a real

marriage. This, a mere giant poking

device away from the Metro Center

station, was the Friends Experience:

a tribute to the Los Angeles sound-

stage that, from 1994 to 2004, hosted

a fictional version of New York City

where six people enacted comedic

scripts for an audience of millions.

Allen, 42, had come from

L andover w ith her daughter and

h er daughter’s boyfriend. They

SEE FRIENDS ON B5

The one with the sets

‘Friends’ fans are

finding comfort in

visiting re-creations

of the series’s famous

cafe and apartments

BONNIE JO MOUNT/THE WASHINGTON POST

Michael Francis, 28, and Elizabeth Lucas, 32, of Arlington t ake a photo at the Friends Experience.

L ike many fans of the show, Francis said they’ve watched the series multiple times and are doing so again.

BY MEAGAN FLYNN

He came into the crowded

Republican primary race in

Northern Virginia with little

name recognition and no experi-

ence in public office or in cam-

paigns.

But early Sunday morning,

retired U.S. Navy Capt. Hung

Cao, 50, walked away with the

GOP nomination in Virginia’s

10th Congressional D istrict and

the chance to take on Rep. Jenni-

fer Wexton (D) in November,

besting 10 candidates and upset-

ting the most well-funded candi-

date, Prince William Board of

County Supervisors member Jea-

nine Lawson (R-Brentsville).

Cao, a Vietnamese refugee

who went on to serve 25 years as

a commissioned Navy officer,

leveraged a personal story that

many voters said they found

compelling as he maximized out-

reach in minority communities

and hit on some of the same

themes — such as fighting “in-

doctrination” in education —

that carried Virginia Gov. Glenn

Youngkin (R) to victory last year.

About 44 percent of the voting-

age people in the district are

minorities, including 17 percent

who are Asian American.

“We came to this country with

nothing,” Cao said in an inter-

view Sunday. “We clawed our

way up and we made it work, and

we harnessed all the opportuni-

ties this country gave us, and we

didn’t take any handouts. That

resonates with all the people in

this district, especially all the

immigrants and minorities. And

all hard-working Americans, not

just minorities.”

In a party-run firehouse pri-

mary that employed ranked-

choice voting, Cao came away

with roughly 53 percent of the

vote to Lawson’s roughly 34 per-

SEE CAO ON B5

GOP picks

veteran

to take on

Wexton

Cao leverages personal

story to win primary i n

Virginia’s 10th District

See it.

Choose it.

Love it.

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