WASHINGTON Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has come across as smooth and unflappable in his confirmation hearings this week, but he did show flashes of defensiveness on Tuesday when he was pressed on one point: his record on upholding workers rights.

Gorsuch is a former corporate law firm attorney and currently a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, where he has built a record of siding with employers in workers rights cases. One of his former law students has also alleged that he told his class that female job applicants manipulate companies to extract maternity benefits . (Another one of Gorsuchs students refuted that account.)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, asked Gorsuch how people can trust that he would look out for the little guy in cases involving workers who sue employers.

Im just looking for something that would indicate that you would give a worker a fair shot, she said. Maybe its in your background somewhere that I dont know about.

Feinsteins questions were part of a broader Democratic effort to paint Gorsuch as a judge who protects corporations at the expense of regular people. Last week, Democrats held a press conference with people who said theyve been hurt by Gorsuchs rulings, including Alphonse Maddin, a TransAm Trucking driver who got fired for unhitching his trailer and driving away to seek warmth when his trucks brakes seized up on a freezing night in Illinois. When Maddin sued, claiming he was unlawfully fired because his life was at risk as he waited hours for help that never came, Gorsuch ruled against him .

Gorsuch took issue with Democrats focusing on cases like Maddins.

I know a case or two has been mentioned yesterday, he told Feinstein. Respectfully, Id suggest that does not represent the body of my work. Ive participated in 2,700 opinions over 10 and a half years. If you want cases where Ive ruled for the little guy as well as the big guy, there are plenty of them, senator.

When Feinstein asked if he could submit examples, Gorsuch replied, Oh goodness! Ill name a bunch right now.

He listed a few cases, including a 1990 lawsuit involving Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in which hed ruled in favor of people who had been subjected to uranium pollution by large companies in Colorado, and Orr v. the City of Albuquerque, which involved pregnancy discrimination in a police department.

The bottom line ... Id like to convey to you, from the bottom of my heart, Gorsuch added, with a somewhat dramatic pause, is that Im a fair judge.