Dr. Eric Lander, President Joe Biden's top science adviser, resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation discovered credible evidence of him mistreating his staff.
Lander, who served as chief of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, was the subject of an internal evaluation following complaints from subordinates about his treatment, Politico reported Monday.
Lander bullied his former general counsel and treated them disrespectfully, recordings and documents obtained by Politico showed.
The White House reprimanded Lander for his interactions with his staff, but initially indicated Monday that he would remain on the job, despite Biden's Inauguration Day assertion that he expected "honesty and decency" from everyone who worked for his administration and would fire anyone who showed disrespect to others on the spot.
However, later Monday evening, Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki disclosed that Biden accepted Lander's resignation with "appreciation for his work at OTSP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other critical priorities."
Lander stated in his resignation letter that he is "devastated" that he caused "hurt to past and present colleagues" through the way he communicated with them. According to the letter, Lander's resignation will take effect no later than Feb. 18.
Under Lander's leadership, the OSTP oversaw everything from climate science and energy research to charting the course for next-generation investments in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and pandemic preparedness and response.
Lander was scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House's biomedical research subcommittee, but his appearance was canceled late Monday.
Lander's workplace behavior is not the scientist's first controversy, as STAT News notes, citing incidents such as his perceived slight of two female researchers who contributed to the development of the gene-editing technology CRISPR.
According to the White House, Biden did not seek Lander's resignation. This is the Biden administration's first Cabinet-level departure.
The White House stated that as part of the review, Lander and OSTP would be required to take certain corrective actions. Additionally, the review concluded that there was no "credible evidence" of gender-based discrimination and that reassigning the employee who filed the initial complaint was "deemed appropriate."
The claims struck a nerve, given that Biden entered office vowing to take a hard line against any disrespect among his administration's members.
A year ago, the White House suspended a press aide for allegedly threatening a reporter working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist. TJ Ducklo, the official, later resigned.
