Gov. Josh Shapiro defends his office’s handling of sexual harassment complaint against a top aide
Shapiro spoke for the first time since the sudden resignation of Mike Vereb, his legislative affairs secretary. He said his office follows a "rigorous process" to investigate harassment complaints.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday defended his administration’s handling of a sexual harassment complaint against a top aide who abruptly resigned last week.
The governor’s comments marked his first public statement on the issue since The Inquirer and other news outlets reported last week that Mike Vereb, his former legislative affairs secretary, was accused in March of sexually harassing an employee.
“I can’t comment on any specifics, and that’s really designed to be able to protect all parties involved in any matter,” Shapiro told reporters at a news conference in Bethlehem. “I can tell you, [Vereb] no longer works for my administration.”
Shapiro, who visited Bethlehem on Thursday to announce investments in recreation and conservation projects, emphasized that his office follows a thorough investigative process whenever an allegation of misconduct is raised. The former Pennsylvania attorney general — who received national attention for investigating child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church — said he learned it’s important to respect the confidentiality of victims, complainants, and witnesses.
“You owe it to a victim to make sure that you have a confidential process, you have a rigorous process that’s grounded in integrity, to ensure that their voice can be heard and to ensure that appropriate outcomes are brought about,” he said. “And we are committed to doing that and do it in our administration.”
The governor’s office has released one statement in the last week on its process for addressing sexual harassment complaints and has largely declined to answer other questions, citing the issue as a personnel matter. Shapiro himself didn’t publicly address the situation until Thursday, as he continued to face questions from Republicans and Democrats regarding his handling of the complaint and why Vereb remained in his job until last week.
A former aide to Vereb alleged earlier this year that Vereb made lewd comments and sexual advances, and retaliated against her when she tried to report it, according to a March statement she sent to investigators with the state Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and a separate complaint she filed with the state Human Relations Commission in June — both of which were obtained by The Inquirer. It remains unclear how far the complaint progressed through either process.
It’s also still unclear when Shapiro became aware of the allegations against Vereb, who has been one of his closest allies in Harrisburg for decades.
Among those criticizing Shapiro in the last week is Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, a Republican who has frequently clashed with the Democratic governor. When asked about her concerns, Shapiro said, with a smirk, that reporters should “consider the source.”
Shapiro and Ward have butted heads over a failed private school voucher program that led the state budget to be signed five weeks late, and have not spoken in months. They’ve also been at odds for years over creating a two-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against their abusers or the institutions that protected them — one of the key recommendations from Shapiro’s grand jury report on the Roman Catholic Church.
Sen. Lisa Boscola (D., Northampton) was with Shapiro on Thursday at the Bethlehem news conference, where they announced that the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had granted $52 million for 220 conservation and recreation projects across the state.
Boscola also attended a private meeting Wednesday with Shapiro, seven other female Democratic senators, and the Senate minority leader about Vereb’s resignation. She said she left feeling confident that the administration is handling the issue “the best as they can.”
“This kind of stuff happens,” Boscola said about the harassment allegations in an interview after Thursday’s event. “Nobody is immune to it. All you can do is handle it professionally.”
Most of the other senators who met with Shapiro on Wednesday have declined to speak about their hourlong conversation. Sen. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny) said she still had unanswered questions about the process of investigating the allegations, while Sen. Jay Costa (D., Allegheny), the minority leader, expressed confidence in the administration’s handling.
Boscola said Thursday she didn’t ask many questions in that meeting, knowing that the administration wouldn’t be able to share information because it’s a personnel matter.
Both Shapiro and Boscola noted that the two top aides to Shapiro — his chief of staff and general counsel — are both women.
“We work every day to make sure we have a healthy, safe, professional work environment for all our employees,” Shapiro said. “And I want everyone to know who works in the state government or anyone observing the state government: Should anyone feel that we’re not meeting those standards, that we have an independent, robust, professional process to allow people to come forward safely.”