Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s Husband Barred as Labor Department Probes Expand to California Unemployment Claims
Lori Chavez-DeRemer has had her husband barred from the Labor Department’s headquarters after multiple staff members said he touched them inappropriately, and investigators have widened scrutiny of the department with separate probes into California unemployment programs.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer faces inspector general scrutiny amid workplace complaints
At least two female staff members told officials that Dr. Shawn DeRemer had touched them inappropriately inside the department’s building. One incident that occurred on the morning of Dec. 18 was captured on office security cameras; investigators reviewed the footage and say it shows an extended embrace. After the complaints, a building restriction notice was issued barring Dr. DeRemer from entering the department’s premises and instructing staff to ask him to leave if he attempts to enter.
On Jan. 24 ET, the Metropolitan Police Department filed a report about forced sexual contact at the Labor Department’s address, and the city’s sexual assault unit is investigating. The widening personnel probe has also led to several aides and members of the department’s security staff being placed on administrative or investigative leave while the inspector general continues its review.
The inspector general’s office is investigating a formal complaint that Ms. Chavez-DeRemer had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate who was a member of her security detail, as well as allegations that she abused her office by taking staff to strip clubs, drinking on the job and taking personal trips at taxpayer expense. Legal representatives for Ms. Chavez-DeRemer have denied those allegations.
Labor Department and federal investigations extend to California unemployment matters
Separately, the Labor Department has launched a probe into the California Employment Development Department (EDD). At the same time, federal investigators have opened an investigation into alleged unemployment fraud tied to California programs. These developments add a broader administrative and enforcement dimension to the department’s current challenges, which already include internal misconduct scrutiny and criminal inquiry into forced sexual contact at the department’s headquarters.
The two lines of inquiry — the internal misconduct and the unemployment fraud inquiries — are distinct but arrive at a politically sensitive moment for the department’s leadership. The internal probe has prompted changes in staffing and heightened oversight of conduct in the department’s Washington offices, while the California-focused investigations address alleged systemic problems in unemployment benefit administration and fraud control.
What’s next for the department and its leadership
Investigations by the inspector general and the Metropolitan Police Department remain ongoing. The building restriction for Dr. Shawn DeRemer stands in place while criminal investigators continue their work. Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s probe into the California EDD and the federal review of alleged unemployment fraud in California are moving forward as separate lines of inquiry.
The convergence of a criminal investigation tied to conduct at department headquarters and administrative probes into unemployment programs places sustained pressure on the department’s operations and leadership. Officials have taken immediate personnel actions inside the headquarters, and oversight teams are continuing reviews that could lead to additional administrative steps depending on what investigators find.
