St. Paul Mayor Sexually Harassed City Employees, Police Chief Says

ST. PAUL, MN — St. Paul’s police chief has filed a complaint against the city’s mayor, Khaoly Her, after she sexualized and harassed subordinates, including Chief Axel Henry himself, according to a letter from Henry’s attorney and media reports.

“Chief Henry has reached this decision to step forward as a formal complainant against the Mayor after becoming aware that the Mayor’s conduct has extended beyond isolated incidents and has included sexual harassment of subordinate City employees, including members of the Saint Paul Police Department,” Henry’s lawyer, Christopher Madel, wrote in an April 1 letter to City Attorney Irene Kao, published in full Tuesday by KSTP.

“Recognizing both the seriousness of that misconduct and the vulnerability of those directly affected, he is concerned that, absent a formal complaint, the behavior will continue unchecked and may expose others to retaliation for speaking out.”

Madel's letter addresses "illegal employment practices against City employees, including himself," with "himself" referring to Henry.

The city has hired employment law expert Cally Kjellberg-Nelson to conduct an independent review of the mayor’s conduct, The New York Times reported, noting that, in an emailed statement, Her’s spokesman, Matt Wagenius, said he could not answer questions regarding an ongoing investigation.

“The mayor has deep respect for city employees and regrets any unintended impact her actions may have had,” he told the Times.

Madel’s letter included text messages from Her to a city worker. The texts referenced “Weiner Wednesday” and included a redacted image below the words “When she wraps you up in her blanket after you gave her a good weinering,” accompanied by two laughing emojis.

A person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Minnesota Star Tribune anonymously due to a lack of authorization to discuss the matter told the newspaper that the image showed the face of a St. Paul officer on Her’s security detail superimposed on the body of a swaddled baby.

“Wiener Wednesday” refers to an ongoing occurrence in which a civilian staffer brings hot dogs in to work for a small group of employees on Wednesdays, people familiar with the police department told the Tribune.

In the letter, Madel demanded that the city perform a full filesystem extraction of the mayor’s cellphones.

The person familiar with the case told the Tribune that Her directed sexualized communications and unwanted physical contact at Henry.

Last year, a former friend of Her’s petitioned for a restraining order against the mayor in connection with “inappropriate or sexualized questions” from Her, among other allegations, the Tribune reported, although a court referee denied the request.