A U.S. federal watchdog agency has released a report detailing allegations of misconduct involving former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez Delemer, who resigned in April.
On Thursday night, the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General released 44 pages detailing incidents in which Chavez Delemer allegedly blurred the lines between his official and private lives.
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The report was based on 500 documents and interviews with 53 current and former Department of Labor employees and one employee at another federal agency.
The newspaper said 38 people interviewed described the office as a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” workplace.
The lawsuit also accuses Chavez Delemer of using government employees for personal business, drinking alcohol in his office during work hours and having an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of his security detail.
Rumors of misconduct ultimately forced Chavez-Deremer to resign on April 20.
She is the third Cabinet member to leave President Donald Trump’s administration, following the departures of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year.
“toxic” environment
Chavez Delemer is a former Republican congressman from Oregon who was sworn in on March 11, 2025. Her term lasted just over a year.
During the final months of her tenure, several senior staff members resigned. One of them, Melissa Roby, claimed in media reports that she was fired under pressure from the White House after sitting in the Office of the Inspector General.
Thursday’s report alleges Chavez Delemer oversaw a hostile workplace, where senior staff “routinely engaged in verbal and written communications that were threatening, humiliating, and abusive” to co-workers.
It cited incidents in which Ministry of Labor employees were assaulted in front of colleagues and threatened with dismissal.
Some of the episodes involved Rebecca Wright, Chavez-Dellemer’s chief of staff. She allegedly moved one employee’s desk to avoid being seen as a “fat person” in the front office, and reportedly advised another employee not to cut his hair too short to avoid looking “lesbian”.
The report alleges that Chavez Delemer was aware of such incidents but took no steps to prevent them from occurring.
Suspected inappropriate request
Investigators also found that Chavez Delemer himself instructed government employees to perform personal work during official business hours.
A personal aide and an executive aide were reportedly sent to her residence to organize her closet, hang out her laundry, and organize her clothes and purse.
Investigators said another employee, who is Hispanic, was instructed to supervise employees at Chavez Delemer’s home, including mobile workers.
Employees were also tasked with purchasing personal items such as gifts, picture frames, holiday decorations and alcohol, the report said.
Witnesses reported that Chavez Delemer, Wright, and her deputy chief of staff also regularly drank alcohol in the secretary’s study during work hours. Some employees said they felt pressured or ridiculed if they declined to participate.
Department of Labor policy requires prior written permission to use alcohol on federal land. Investigators found no record that the necessary approvals were obtained.
Relationship with security details
The watchdog also highlighted aspects of Chavez Delemer’s personal conduct that violated government ethical standards.
The regulations prohibit government employees from using their offices to “coerce or induce” others to provide “financial or other benefits to others, including subordinates.”
It also prohibits officials from asking their subordinates to use government time for non-official activities.
However, the report found that Chavez Delemer had an “inappropriately intimate and unprofessional” relationship with a senior investigator regarding details about his protection.
Witnesses reported seeing Chavez Delemer massaging the agent’s shoulders, playing golf and gambling with him, and walking arm in arm as he left the event.
However, the report did not find “sufficient” evidence to conclude that the relationship was sexual.
Still, investigators documented conduct in which Chavez Delemer’s relationships with agents created conflicts of interest and inappropriate working conditions.
The report describes an April 2025 incident in which Chavez Delemer, on a solo trip to Oregon, asked a security guard to stop him off the record at a club featuring partially nude dancers.
The senior agent she was associated with was also on the trip. The limousine driver objected to her request to drop money on the performers, but a senior agent told her to comply.
Deputies at times reduced the number of officers assigned to Chavez Delemer or took sole responsibility for her protection.
Investigators obtained electronic hotel lock records that suggested the two spent the night in each other’s rooms and reviewed video footage of her visits to her home.
Unreported gifts and overspending
The report also found violations of travel regulations involving excessive spending.
For example, in November 2025, Chavez-Deremer and two other officials reportedly stayed at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, to attend a gala for the America First Institute for Policy Studies.
Their lodging costs approached or exceeded the government’s reimbursement rate by three times, despite the lack of documentation showing the necessary approvals for the increased costs.
Investigators also discovered that Chavez Delemer failed to report to the government several gifts he gave her and her husband, including rodeo tickets, an alligator skin wallet, and a cowboy hat.
Federal employees are required to report gifts they receive as part of their official duties to avoid conflicts of interest.
The watchdog’s report concludes by recommending structural changes to the Ministry of Labor, including removing the protection division from the director’s oversight.
Such officials could instead work under the Office of the Inspector General, the report suggested.
The report also calls for independent travel audits, stronger whistleblower protections and annual training for senior leaders.
Chávez Delemer has announced that since resigning from his cabinet position, he has become a senior advisor at the public relations firm Think Big.
The former secretary heads a clinic specializing in labor and national infrastructure, according to the company’s website.
