Embattled nuclear agency chairman verbally abused female employees, colleague says

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko verbally abused senior-level female employees at the agency, according to testimony of a fellow commissioner at the NRC. The testimony from Commissioner William Magwood, a Democrat, was submitted for the record for a House oversight hearing on the ongoing feud brewing between Jaczko and the other four NRC commissioners, whose agency is tasked with ensuring safety at the nation's 104 nuclear power plants. Magwood addressed the concerns about Jaczko's behavior toward his female employees at the end of his lengthy testimony. "The final major concern I raise pertains to the Chairman's abusive behavior toward the staff," Magwood said. "I think of all the issues of leadership before us, I have found this the most troubling. To understand this matter, I have spoke with three of the women who have had personal experience with the Chairman's extreme behavior. In each, the women involved indicated that she had done nothing wrong or inappropriate, but something set the Chairman off and he launched into a raging verbal assault." Magwood continued: "Enduring this type of abuse and being reduced to tears in front of colleagues and subordinates is a profoundly painful experience for them."