President Biden has fired US Railroad Retirement Board Inspector General Martin Dickman for creating a toxic work environment at the federal agency. The decision came after an investigation by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency found that Dickman engaged in abusive treatment of employees, used inappropriate language, including slurs, and belittled staffers. Dickman, who had been with the RRB since 1994, will be officially terminated on April 28. Despite the allegations against Dickman being investigated and resulting in his firing, similar allegations against White House officials have gone uninvestigated, and they remain employed.
Anthony Bernal, a top aide to first lady Jill Biden, has been accused by nearly a dozen current and former colleagues of bullying and verbally sexually harassing colleagues over more than a decade. Despite these allegations, Bernal remains employed, and the White House has dismissed the claims against him without investigating. The president’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, expressed full confidence in Bernal’s character and stated that the allegations are unfounded attacks. Bernal himself denied the claims, stating that they are not true.
Allegations of creating a toxic work environment have also been made against Biden’s “drug czar,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, who is the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. According to current and former ONDCP staffers, Gupta has pressured aides to raise his public profile at the expense of fighting the US opioid epidemic and has exhibited erratic behavior, such as canceling a trip because he refused to fly on a certain airline and demanding a larger hotel room based on square footage. Gupta has also been criticized for not supporting aides recovering from substance use disorders in his office.
President Biden has previously stated that he would fire political appointees if he hears of disrespectful behavior or talking down to colleagues. On his first day in the White House, Biden made it clear that there would be no tolerance for mistreatment of coworkers. However, despite this zero-tolerance policy, allegations against White House officials, including Bernal and Gupta, have not been thoroughly investigated, and they remain in their positions. The White House has not provided any comment on the allegations against these officials or the differing responses to workplace misconduct by Biden’s administration.
The discrepancies in the handling of workplace misconduct allegations within President Biden’s administration raise questions about accountability and transparency. While the president has taken a strong stance against mistreatment of colleagues, the failure to investigate and address similar allegations against key officials in the White House may undermine the credibility of the administration’s commitment to promoting a safe and respectful work environment. The firing of Dickman from the US Railroad Retirement Board highlights the importance of addressing workplace toxicity, but the lack of action on allegations against other officials calls into question the consistency of Biden’s zero-tolerance policy towards mistreatment in the workplace.
