A newly released Office of Inspector General report has substantiated a wide range of misconduct allegations against former U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned in April, finding what investigators called “a preponderance of the evidence” supporting “multiple violations of DOL policy.”
The 44-page report, made public Thursday, followed an anonymous complaint and covers allegations of travel fraud, abuse of office, a hostile work environment, on-the-job drinking, and an inappropriate relationship with a member of her security detail.
A Toxic Workplace From Day One
Investigators interviewed at least 38 witnesses who “consistently described the OSEC work environment as toxic, intimidating and humiliating,” a climate the report says began at the start of Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure and produced “widespread fear and job insecurity within the organization.”
Witnesses said Chavez-DeRemer, along with Chief of Staff Jihun Han and Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright, openly discussed employees’ performance in front of other staff, including whether those employees had cried during meetings. Twenty-one witnesses described Wright as condescending and hostile, saying conditions worsened after her arrival on February 26, 2025, and continued deteriorating through the summer.
Han, a longtime aide to Chavez-DeRemer since her early political career in Oregon, was accused by three witnesses of threatening employees with termination and taking pleasure in intimidating them. He cycled through seven assistants in roughly nine months as chief of staff due to repeated conflicts.
Wright, who was also involved in Chavez-DeRemer’s 2022 Oregon congressional campaign, allegedly demeaned a personal assistant by saying the job amounted to providing
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