White House senior science adviser Eric Lander resigned after internal investigations revealed the maltreatment of his staff.
A workplace complaint prompted an internal investigation last year, which found evidence that Lander had intimidated colleagues and treated them disrespectfully. Lander served as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to United States President Joe Biden.
According to NBC News, the White House reprimanded Lander over the mistreatment of his subordinates but initially indicated on Monday that he would be allowed to remain on the job, despite Biden's expectations of "honesty and decency" from officials and staff of his administration announced during his inauguration.
President Biden even warned that he would fire "on the spot" anyone disrespectful towards others. But late Monday evening, Biden had accepted Lander's resignation according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
"He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead," Psaki said in a statement.
Rude Behavior in The Workplace
In his resignation letter, Lander said that he was "devastated" for hurting "past and present colleagues" by the manner he spoke to them. He believed that "it is not possible" for him to "continue effectively" in his position and the tasks of his office are "far too important to be hindered."
The White House said Biden did not request Lander's resignation.
Lander resigned after Politico published a report Monday morning alleging that he had "bullied and demeaned" his staff, including his former general counsel Rachel Wallace, who quit and filed a complaint before the White House initiated an investigation that lasted for two months.
According to the publication, multiple women had complained to colleagues about his behavior, which they commonly defined as insulting. It confirmed that the concluded inquiry discovered credible evidence of the scientist's bullying in the workplace.
As news of the forthcoming story spread within the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on Friday, Lander sent a letter of apology to staffers via email, Politico reported,
As part of the evaluation, Lander and the OSTP will be expected to take some corrective measures, as per the White House. The report said that the assessment found no "credible evidence" of gender-based discrimination, and the reassignment of the person who filed the original complaint was "deemed appropriate."
Brilliant Scientist with Bad Reputation
Lander, a renowned scientist, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant at the age of 30. He was on the board of the cancer organization founded by Biden and received multiple awards for his work mapping the human genome. However, he was a polarizing figure with a reputation for being mean and not giving women in his area enough credit.
Lander was founding director of the Board Institute of MIT and Harvard. Before his inauguration, he was tapped by Biden to be his science adviser.
He was the last of Biden's Cabinet members to be confirmed as his nomination prompted warnings science luminaries.
According to AP News, Lander also was blasted for downplaying the contributions of two Nobel Prize-winning female biochemists, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.
