Harassment rumors surround impending departure of Energy Department official

A shakeup is imminent at one of the Biden administration's key agencies, despite conflicting accounts of what has prompted the upcoming departure of a top department official.

As Politico reports, the Department of Energy (DOE) last week made public the fact that Frank Rose, the agency's number-two nuclear strategy official, would be leaving his post in the near future, but questions remain as to the exact reason why.

Departure announced amid ambiguity

Frank Rose, the second-highest-ranking official in the DOE's nuclear security agency, is poised to leave his post in the coming weeks, though the facts surrounding that move remain somewhat nebulous.

At the time of the announcement, Rose's superior reportedly issued a staff memo filled with praise for the official's work at the department, not to mention his personnel management qualities.

According to the memo, Rose's boss viewed him as an “empathetic, candid, and action-oriented leader” who prioritized the welfare of those working under him.

Unmentioned in the communication, however, were references to grievances that dogged Rose in recent weeks and months and which spurred an internal inquiry into his conduct.

Harassment claims to the fore

Politico noted that the claims surrounding Rose were related to sexual harassment and the facilitation of a hostile work environment.

As such, Rose became the subject of a probe launched by the DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals, with three current or former employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) stepping forward to level accusations.

According to those individuals, Rose had a propensity to make some women staffers feel uneasy in his presence, with one issuing a warning to female employees to be on the lookout for problematic situations.

One anecdote raised during the investigation involved an agency-wide meeting of several hundred employees in which, after discussing a female foreign official's praise of his agency's work, Rose reportedly said, “I love you, will you marry me?”

Few additional details about the claims brought against Rose were included in the Politico report, but they appear sufficiently substantial to have perhaps contributed to his decision to leave.

Rose's attorney, Mark Zaid, issued a statement noting that his client “denies he ever acted in a way that intentionally sought to make colleagues feel uncomfortable or harassed in any way and does not believe his actions would be objectively construed in such a manner,” but the bottom line is that the Biden administration will have a rather high-profile agency vacancy to fill quite soon.