President Biden on Friday fired the longtime American Railroad Retirement Board official after an investigation found he created a toxic work environment at the federal agency.
However, similar allegations against at least two White House staffers were not investigated, and they appear to remain employed.
Biden, 81, reportedly informed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) of his decision to fire Martin Dickman, inspector general of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, for cause. multiple report.
An investigation into allegations that Dickman fostered a hostile work environment was launched in January 2023 by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
Hill said the investigation concluded that Dickman, who had worked at RRB since 1994, was abusive toward employees, used inappropriate language, including slurs, and disrespected them. .
Dickman is currently on leave and will be officially fired on April 28, the outlet said.
Nearly a dozen current and former colleagues of Anthony Bernal, a close aide to first lady Jill Biden, told the Post that the White House official bullied and verbally sexually harassed colleagues for more than a decade. Ta.
Unlike Dickman, Bernal remains employed, and the president’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, dismissed the allegations against him without investigating.
“The President and First Lady have full confidence in Anthony’s character, and so do I. His many fans in the White House believe that he is polite, tough, upholds himself to the highest standards, and conducts his public affairs.” I know I have a dedicated heart,” Zients told the Post earlier this month. “It is unfortunate that he has become the target of baseless attacks from anonymous sources.”
Bernal denied the claims in the Post article, saying, “These baseless attacks are not true.”
Allegations of fostering a “toxic” work environment have also been leveled at Biden’s “drug trafficker” Dr. Rahul Gupta.
Several current and former employees of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. told Politico Last month, it was revealed that the head of the department, Mr. Gupta, had pressured his aides to raise their profile at the expense of fighting the U.S. opioid epidemic, and that a former medical practitioner was upset that he didn’t like his travel arrangements. Became.
In one case, a Biden administration official reportedly canceled a trip he had planned months in advance because he refused to fly Southwest Airlines. In another bizarre episode, Mr. Gupta allegedly asked staff to give him another room at the hotel after measuring the square footage of the room he had already booked and determining it was too small.
Mr. Gupta was also criticized by former staffers for failing to support and rarely listening to aides in his White House office who were recovering from drug use disorders.
On his first day in the White House, Biden told his political appointees that he had heard that they were “treating other colleagues with disdain” and that he would fire them “on the spot” if they said anything bad about anyone. Told.
“There’s no ifs, ors, or buts,” he added.
The White House did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
