3 women file civil rights complaints against Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer
Three women have filed civil rights complaints against U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, according to reports.
The complaints allege that Chavez-DeRemer, a former congressperson for Oregon’s 5th District, created a “hostile work environment” and tried to retaliate against staffers for cooperating with an investigation, including claims of sexual harassment by Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, The New York Times and MS Now reported on Thursday.
Two of the complainants have accused the secretary’s husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, of “unwanted sexual touching,” MS Now reported.
The Labor Department’s inspector general’s office reportedly is wrapping up an investigation into Chavez-DeRemer’s short tenure as labor secretary and has interviewed the three women.
The complaints allege that Chavez-DeRemer and top aides threatened staff and made them run personal errands and do personal chores for the labor secretary, including cleaning out the closets of her apartment.
Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff and another top aide have been ousted from their positions in recent weeks.
Chavez-DeRemer, a former Happy Valley mayor, won a U.S. House seat in 2022 and then lost it at the next election.
During her time with the Trump administration she has faced questions about whether her extensive travel schedule was designed not for work reasons but to accommodate an alleged affair she was having with one of her bodyguards.
The New York Post reported in January that Chavez-DeRemer was under investigation for “abusing her position” and for having an “inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, meanwhile, was barred from the Labor Department’s headquarters, though the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department closed its investigation into the sexual-harassment allegations after determining there was no evidence of a crime.
The White House has previously called the allegations against Chavez-DeRemer “baseless.” The Labor Department has likewise said the allegations are “categorically false.”