Shapiro’s incoming secretary of legislative affairs, Mike Vereb, is one of the new governor’s closest — and for a powerful Democrat, most unusual — allies.
David M. Warren / File Photograph
Top stories of 2023: Legislative affairs secretary Mike Vereb resigns amid harassment allegations
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Ben Wasserstein/WITF
David M. Warren / File Photograph
Shapiro’s incoming secretary of legislative affairs, Mike Vereb, is one of the new governor’s closest — and for a powerful Democrat, most unusual — allies.
In late September, legislative affairs secretary Mike Vereb abruptly resigned, with no details offered about the departure of this top aide to the governor..
It was soon revealed he had been accused of sexual harassment by a former staffer.
A sexual harassment investigation resulted in a settlement between Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office and the accuser.
WITF obtained the settlement agreement through a public records request.
In it, the governor’s office agreed to pay 295 thousand dollars to the accuser and her legal team while denying any wrongdoing.
That settlement had been agreed to three weeks before Vereb’s resignation.
That and several other instances of sexual harassment in the legislature prompted both chambers to unveil legislative packages to address the issue.
The bipartisan Senate package offered two bills.
One would require state agencies and the general assembly to use a third party when investigating claims.
The second would require settlements of claims to be posted publicly.
The House package offered five bills.
They deal with issues of accountability and transparency while maintaining the privacy of accusers.
Republican Rep. Abby Major of Armstrong County led that initiative.
Major had previously accused Rep. Mike Zabel of Delaware County of sexual harassment before his resignation.
She said harassment was not a partisan issue.
“Sexual harassment is a workplace issue,” she said. “Sexual harassment is usually not even about sex. It’s about power. Power is often equated with strength, but sexual harassment does not come from a place of strength.”
The announcement of the house package coincided with the release of the National Women’s Defense League annual abuse of power report.
In it, the group found 130 lawmakers had been accused of sexual harassment across the nation this past decade.
Emma Davidson Tribbs, executive director of the NWDL, shared Major’s sentiment about partisanship.
“This isn’t a single-party issue or an anomaly,” Davidson Tribbs said. “It is a systemic, under-regulated abuse of power in every statehouse across the country.”
The bills have yet to be voted on and will not be able to reach Shapiro’s desk until the House returns in mid-March.
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