If Vice President Kamala Harris selects Gov. Josh Shapiro as her vice presidential running mate, he could face attacks in the next three months for what could be the only real scandal of his tenure in Pennsylvania’s highest elected office, even though he has been criticized at times by both Republicans and Democrats for his centrist approach.
Last September, media reported that Mike Vereb, Shapiro’s liaison to the state legislature, he suddenly resigned after being accused several months earlier of making inappropriate, lewd and sexually suggestive comments to an employee he supervised.
Vereb is a Republican from Montgomery County, where Shapiro began his political career. They served overlapping terms as state House legislators, and after Shapiro was elected attorney general, he named Vereb his government affairs director.
Shortly after Shapiro became governor in January 2023, Vereb allegedly began harassing a female employee and making sexual advances, what made her resign in March, according to complaints she prepared for the state Human Rights Commission and Office of Equal Employment Opportunity.
She alleged the governor knew about concerns about Vereb’s past behavior when he hired him and failed to take action on the harassment or protect her from retaliation.
Shapiro’s administration has repeatedly declined to comment on the allegations. It paid out $295,000 in a settlement that included a clause excluding both parties from discussing the allegations.
Concerns About Shapiro’s Vice Presidency
Settlement it attracted the attention of the whole country at that timeThe claims that Shapiro tolerated Vereb’s harassment of an employee and waited too long to fire him “threaten to strike at the heart of the governor’s political identity,” given his prior high-profile work investigating sexual abuse by Catholic priests and his robust pro-women stance, according to a Politico analysis.
Complaints about Shapiro’s handling of the incident resurfaced after Harris began considering him as a potential vice presidential running mate in her presidential election.
Erin McLelland, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, Shapiro attacked on Vereb last month. She endorsed North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as Kamala Harris’ running mate, saying she wanted a vice president who “doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug.” Her comments were quickly picked up by Fox News and New York Post.
This National Women’s Defense Leaguea group founded in 2022 to prevent sexual harassment in public administration and protect victims, also expressed concern about Shapiro’s candidacy.
“The American people deserve to know that if appointed to higher office, Governor Shapiro will do more to ensure the safety and dignity of the employees, volunteers and constituents in his office,” the group said.
Anger Among Republican Women Lawmakers
After news of the scandal broke last fall, the governor met with eight of the state’s Democratic senators. One lawmaker later said the group supported Shapiro’s actions in the case.
State Sen. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County said she was “very confident that the administration is handling this as best they can.”
However, some Republican women legislators were criticalstating that the governor’s office should have protected the accuser from Vereb or quickly fired him rather than allow him to continue working in office.
“It really pisses me off that I have to stop talking because I’m going to say something I shouldn’t,” said Interim Senate President Kim Ward he told the Inquirer“It’s so annoying that [Vereb] He remained in this position for many months, it was one of the highest positions in the administration.”
When asked about some of Ward’s commentsShapiro said, “When it comes to the interim president, consider the source.”
He said his chief of staff and chief legal adviser are women and defended confidentiality and integrity investigations into abuses of office.
“We have an independent, robust process. It’s one where every employee should feel comfortable coming forward and having their voice heard,” he said.
An appeal for legislative reforms
Ward and others also raised broader issues regarding using taxpayers’ money to resolve complaints towards public officials and including confidentiality clauses in such contracts.
State lawmakers and officials have come under fire in recent years for repeatedly authorizing payments to settle harassment claims against state and public officials, as well as for their constant employ of nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs.
In 2015, House Democrats paid $248,000 resolve the claim against Rep. Thomas Caltagirone of Berks County, according to documents obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The settlement included an NDA.
The accusation related to years of physical and verbal harassment, as well as a previous harassment claim against Caltagirone in 1994. The lawmaker maintained his innocence and said he took the deal to avoid high legal fees.
Meanwhile, House Democrats reportedly spent more than $500,000 over five years to resolve harassment claims and other labor disputes.
A later analysis by the Inquirer and Gazette in 2018 found that at least $3.2 million in taxpayer funds spent more than eight years adjudicating claims against lawmakers and executive branch employees, courts and state-supported universities. The accusations included inappropriate jokes, exposure to pornography, sexual assault and, in some cases, retaliation for reporting incidents, the newspapers reported.
The revelations led to legislative proposals to prevent anonymity and taxpayer-funded settlements for officials who have mistreated others.
After Vereb’s resignation, the bipartisan group four state senators introduced bills It would require legislatures and state agencies to employ a third party when investigating sexual harassment claims, and would also require public disclosure of the number of settlements covered by nondisclosure agreements, City & State reported.
Five female Republican Party legislators also proposed a package of laws which would strengthen the Chamber’s rules regarding sexual harassment complaints filed by its members, expand reporting requirements for settlements, allow the state to seek damages from individuals whose actions led to publicly funded settlements, and prohibit nondisclosure agreements.
