Rep. Brenda Lawrence has placed her chief of staff on leave following allegations of sexual harassment by former employees, her office confirmed to POLITICO.

The Michigan Democrat suspended Dwayne Duron Marshall after POLITICO reported Tuesday on four former staffers’ accounts of how Marshall treated women in the office. The aides said he made frequent comments about their looks and engaged in occasional unwanted touching — something Marshall firmly denied in a statement.


"In my 28 years of public service, I have never had any kind of complaint filed against me nor have I ever sexually harassed anyone!" Marshall said. "In fact, for the last 17 years of my career, I have directly represented women in the workplace. Despite these slanderous accusations, I will continue to focus on working on behalf of the constituents in our district."

“The Chief of Staff has been placed on administrative leave pending results of the investigation,” Lawrence said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for an environment free from sexual harassment and my commitment has not wavered.”

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Three of the four former aides said they had raised the issue to Lawrence in recent years, though they say they did not use the words “sexual harassment.” Lawrence denied that she ever heard anyone complain of being uncomfortable around Marshall, though she acknowledged in an interview that her office grappled for a time with “managerial style issues.”

In an updated statement following the POLITICO story, Lawrence asked former employees to come to her if they had concerns about sexual harassment and promised they would not be retaliated against for sharing any information.

Lawrence also said she has “requested the assistance of House and outside independent management resources to investigate and assess the current environment of my office so that I can take appropriate corrective action as necessary.”