Dear Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley:

On behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), and its 4,000 circuit, state, and local affiliate members across the country, we write to express our strongest possible recommendation that Charlotte Sweeney be confirmed to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado— a court that, among other things, oversees federal action on workers’ rights.

NELA is the largest professional membership organization in the country comprised of lawyers who represent workers in labor, employment, and civil rights disputes. Founded in 1985, NELA advances employee rights and serves lawyers who advocate for equality and justice in the American workplace. Our members litigate daily in every federal district and circuit, affording NELA a unique perspective on the profound impact of the judiciary on the daily lives and the rights of working people.

Ms. Sweeney has worked in private practice since 1995, and is highly regarded in the Colorado Bar. She is seen as a reasonable and fair lawyer by defense attorneys who have been her opposing counsel, as well as by workers’ rights attorneys. Additionally, Ms. Sweeney has extensive trial experience, sixty percent of which consists of litigation. She has tried at least twenty cases to verdict or judgement, including cases regarding the gender pay gap, wage transparency, workplace sexual harassment, and disability discrimination. Ms. Sweeney has served as a neutral when she served as the Chief Arbitrator on an arbitration panel in 2018. Ms. Sweeney also has worked to advance the rights of workers in Colorado by drafting and supporting legislation, including the 2019 Equal Pay for Equal Work Act.

She is well respected by attorneys outside of her practice area and has held leadership positions in the Colorado Bar Association and the Faculty of Federal Advocates.

Ms. Sweeney graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Denver College of Law in 1995. She has received numerous awards, including Colorado Super Lawyers’ Top 50 Women, American Lawyer Media’s title of 2021 Women Leader in the Law, and has been highlighted as an individual in Employment Law in the Best Lawyers’ In America publication for the past nine years.

Ms. Sweeney is eminently qualified to serve as a federal judge. As an employment lawyer, Ms. Sweeney has dedicated her career to the protection and advancement of workers’ and civil rights. She brings a perspective that is much-needed on the federal bench.

Ms. Sweeney would bring critically important professional/experiential diversity to the federal judiciary, which is essential to a fair judiciary. She will also bring important demographic diversity as the first openly LGBTQ+ woman in Colorado to serve on the federal bench.

We strongly urge her swift confirmation.

Sincerely,

Laura M. Flegel 
Legislative & Public Policy Director                      

Jeffrey A. Mittman
Executive Director