Issued March 19, 2024
SEIU President Mary Kay Henry issued this statement following the U.S. Senate’s vote to confirm Nicole Berner:
WASHINGTON, DC - “Nicole Berner has been a tireless champion of working people, underrepresented communities, and women across her legal career, including as SEIU’s General Counsel. Her nomination by President Biden to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and her confirmation by the Senate today recognize the vital importance of expanding the diversity of perspectives on the federal bench.
SEIU’s two million members and not-yet-union workers have been rising up to rewrite the rules to ensure that every worker has the right to join together in unions and build a brighter future. A judicial system that reflects the great diversity of our nation and provides equal justice to all is a crucial part of that as we fight to defend our right to vote, our reproductive freedom, and the dignity and safety of every person in our communities and workplaces, regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation or any other factor. Nicole is recognized by her colleagues for her fairness, thoughtfulness and open-minded temperament.
Nicole Berner comes well prepared to the federal bench with an exceptional legal background, including work as a reproductive rights and labor attorney, a litigator on high-profile cases at a prestigious law firm, and a clerk to well regarded federal judges. We know she will build on her distinguished career in her next chapter as a federal appellate judge and as the first openly LGBTQ+ woman on the 4th Circuit.
With Nicole’s elevation to the bench, Steve Ury, who has been serving as her co-general counsel for the past year, will continue on in the role of SEIU General Counsel.”