Gorsuch, students defend his questions about women at work

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch said Tuesday he taught his law school students about inappropriate questions from prospective employers, contradicting a student who accused him of showing a lack of respect for working women during a classroom discussion about family planning and the workplace.

Gorsuch's views were echoed to The Associated Press by some of his other former law school students, who contended the accuser misconstrued the lesson.

Sisk, who has since graduated, provided her recollections of the class in a letter Friday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which started confirmation hearings Monday.

Gorsuch has been serving on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and also taught classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder since the late 2000s.

Federal law bans employers from making hiring decisions based on a woman's plans to start a family.

[...] Sisk, who worked for the Obama administration's Interior Department and Democratic former Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, said Gorsuch emphasized that employers may legally ask the question — and that they do so to protect their companies.

In a statement, the law school's dean, S. James Anaya, said that in April and May administrators "met with the student to address her concerns."

[...] the dean went on, "At the end of June, the law school had a transition of deans and, regrettably, preceding that change, no member of the law school administration spoke to Judge Gorsuch about the student's concern."