Sean Delemer, husband of Lori Chavez Delemer, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, sits as Chavez Delemer testifies during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) confirmation hearing on February 19, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
At least two female employees allege they were sexually assaulted by Labor Secretary Lori Chavez Delemer’s husband in a Department of Labor building, MS Now confirmed Thursday night.
Chavez Delemer’s husband, Dr. Sean Delemer, has not been charged criminally, but he was barred from the Department of Labor’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., after the women detailed their allegations to investigators, MS Now has confirmed.
The New York Times first reported the situation Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation and police reports.
“This is an active investigation by MPD’s Sexual Assault Unit,” a spokesperson for the Washington Metropolitan Police Department told CNBC when contacted about a Times report that an accuser had filed a police report in late January. “We are unable to confirm the names of potential suspects or witnesses.
According to the Times, the women said Dr. Delimer, an anesthesiologist in Portland, Oregon, “inappropriately touched them at the Department of Labor building on Constitution Avenue.”
“One of the incidents was recorded on the office’s security camera during working hours on the morning of December 18,” the newspaper reported, citing a person familiar with the incident.
“The video, which shows Dr Delimar hugging one of the women for an extended period of time, has been reviewed as part of the criminal investigation, one of the people said.
According to the news agency, sources who spoke to MS Now said that during the incident, Dr Derrymar was seen hugging the woman so much that she became “creepy”.
The Labor Department’s inspector general, an internal watchdog, is investigating the situation, the Times said. The newspaper also reported that on January 24, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department filed a report with the department in December regarding forced sexual contact.
CNBC obtained a public copy of the police report that states “the complainant reported sexual contact against her will” during the incident at the Department of Labor building at 11:30 a.m. ET on Dec. 18.
Public copies of the report do not list the names of the complainants, nor do they list the names of the alleged perpetrators.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez Delemer speaks at a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
In response to inquiries from CNBC, the Office of the Inspector General would not confirm or deny that it was conducting an investigation.
Dr. Delimer, the Department of Labor, the National Police Agency and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNBC.
The Times reported in late January that a member of Chief Chavez Delemer’s security department had been accused of having a romantic relationship and had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the inspector general.
In January, the Labor Department’s social media accounts posted a video featuring a slideshow of artwork depicting glorified scenes from American history.
The caption above the video read: “One homeland, one people, one heritage. Don’t forget who you are, Americans.”
Social media users noted similarities between the Labor Ministry’s post and the Nazi Party’s slogan.
The slogan “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer,” which the U.S. Holocaust Museum notes was used by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, means “One People, One Country, One Leader.”
