Labor secretary’s husband barred from the department after sexual assault reports
The husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been barred from the department’s headquarters after at least two female staff members told officials that he had sexually assaulted them, according to people familiar with the decision and a police report obtained by The New York Times.
The women said Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, had touched them inappropriately at the Labor Department building. One of the incidents, on Dec. 18, was recorded on office security cameras, the people said. The video showed DeRemer giving one of the women an extended embrace, and was reviewed as part of a criminal investigation, one of the people said.
In January, the women’s concerns about DeRemer, 57, were raised as part of an internal investigation by the department’s inspector general into alleged misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer and her senior staff, one of the people said.
On Jan. 24, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department filed a report about forced sexual contact in December at the Labor Department, according to their report, which was viewed by the Times.
The police report is the only one from the last three months associated with the Labor Department’s address, a police spokesperson said, adding that the Police Department’s sexual assault unit is investigating.
After the women described the incidents to investigators, DeRemer was barred from entering the Labor Department’s premises, according to people familiar with the decision, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the allegations and ongoing investigations.
DeRemer, an anesthesiologist in Oregon who frequently visited his wife’s Washington offices, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Labor Department did not provide a comment. A lawyer representing Chavez-DeRemer declined to comment.
The widening scandal at the Labor Department has forced several aides and members of the security staff in Chavez-DeRemer’s inner circle onto administrative and investigative leave. The inspector general’s office is investigating a formal complaint that Chavez-DeRemer was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and abusing her office.
These two seem to be a match made in MAGA land.
The women said Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, had touched them inappropriately at the Labor Department building. One of the incidents, on Dec. 18, was recorded on office security cameras, the people said. The video showed DeRemer giving one of the women an extended embrace, and was reviewed as part of a criminal investigation, one of the people said.
In January, the women’s concerns about DeRemer, 57, were raised as part of an internal investigation by the department’s inspector general into alleged misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer and her senior staff, one of the people said.
On Jan. 24, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department filed a report about forced sexual contact in December at the Labor Department, according to their report, which was viewed by the Times.
The police report is the only one from the last three months associated with the Labor Department’s address, a police spokesperson said, adding that the Police Department’s sexual assault unit is investigating.
After the women described the incidents to investigators, DeRemer was barred from entering the Labor Department’s premises, according to people familiar with the decision, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the allegations and ongoing investigations.
DeRemer, an anesthesiologist in Oregon who frequently visited his wife’s Washington offices, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Labor Department did not provide a comment. A lawyer representing Chavez-DeRemer declined to comment.
The widening scandal at the Labor Department has forced several aides and members of the security staff in Chavez-DeRemer’s inner circle onto administrative and investigative leave. The inspector general’s office is investigating a formal complaint that Chavez-DeRemer was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and abusing her office.
These two seem to be a match made in MAGA land.
