Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer ran a department where staff drank on duty, cried through public dressing-downs and were dispatched to organize her closet and pick up her dry cleaning, according to a new report from the Labor Department’s Office of the Inspector General.
In her Cabinet position, she faced allegations of professional misconduct, misuse of government funds and drinking on the job — all of which the inspector general’s report published Thursday found to be substantiated.
The 38-page investigation gives concrete answers to accusations that first surfaced publicly in January.
Ms. Chavez-DeRemer stepped down as labor secretary in April.
According to the report, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, while atop the Labor Department, contributed to a hostile work environment, had an inappropriately close relationship with an assistant special agent in charge, flouted travel regulations, drank regularly in the office and accepted gifts without reporting them through proper ethics channels.
An anonymous complaint filed in January triggered the investigation into three other former officials — Chief of Staff Jihun Han, Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright and the assistant agent in charge — and was later expanded to include a fourth official after additional complaints.
Over three dozen witnesses described the Office of the Secretary as “toxic, intimidating and humiliating,” including public performance shaming, “beatdown” meetings and performance-related meetings where employees cried.
Mr. Han cycled through seven assistants in nine months and threatened employees with termination, appearing “to take satisfaction in doing so,” according to the report.
Ms. Wright made comments touching on race, weight and sexual orientation, and allegedly selected staff based on physical appearance rather than professional qualifications, the report said.
The investigation also found patterns of appending official engagements to what witnesses described as personal trips, such as family and Las Vegas visits.
Unauthorized alcohol was also kept in Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s office, and she did not disclose multiple gifts, including rodeo tickets, an alligator-hide wallet and cowboy hats, that should have gone through ethics reviews.
Staff was directed to run personal errands, such as organizing her closet, retrieving packages and hiring movers and cleaners, on official time.
One witness reported that Ms. Wright demeaned Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s personal assistant by stating that the employee’s role was to provide the secretary with “lip gloss and makeup.”
At Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s direction, a protective agent was ordered to give money to a partially nude performer at an establishment during personal travel, over the agent’s objections, and instructed not to report it, the report said. The agent reported it the next day.
The inspector general conducted physical surveillance and obtained hotel door-lock and residential key-fob and video records showing overnight visits, including one where the same assistant special agent in charge entered Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s residence and did not leave for roughly 14 hours. Contact continued even after he was placed on leave.
The investigation did not conclude the relationship was romantic or sexual, only that it was “inappropriately close and unprofessional,” creating appearance-of-preferential-treatment violations.
The agent’s protective conduct was also found at fault.
He repeatedly dismissed and repositioned agents, leaving the secretary alone with him for hours without briefing the rest of the detail and playing golf while armed and alone with her.
The Washington Times has reached out to the White House and Ms. Chavez-DeRemer for comment.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.