You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
President Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, resigned Monday night following a White House investigation that found he had bullied his subordinates and violated the White House’s workplace policy, Politico reported. The investigation found “credible evidence” that Lander—director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy—was “bullying” toward his then general counsel, Rachel Wallace.
Biden accepted Lander’s resignation, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Christian Peele, the White House’s deputy director of management and administration for personnel, said that the investigation also concluded that there was “credible evidence of disrespectful interactions with staff by Dr. Lander and OSTP leadership.” There was also “credible evidence” that Lander had spoken “harshly and disrespectfully to colleagues in front of other colleagues,” Peele said, according to the recording of a briefing on the report.
In an office of 140 people, 14 current and former OSTP staffers shared descriptions of a toxic work environment where they say Lander frequently bullied, cut off and dismissed subordinates.
On Friday, Lander sent an apology to his staff, The Washington Post reported. “I have spoken to colleagues within OSTP in a disrespectful or demeaning way,” Lander wrote. “It is never acceptable for me to speak that way. I am deeply sorry for my conduct. I especially want to apologize to those of you who I treated poorly, or were present at the time.”
