SEC investigating sexual-harassment claims against Miami Beach mayor
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has started questioning current and former employees about allegations of sexual harassment against Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by the Miami Herald.
Meiner, who has worked as an enforcement attorney in the SEC’s Miami office since 2007, was elected mayor of Miami Beach in November after four years as a city commissioner.
Since the new year, repon resentatives from the federal agency’s Office of Human Resources in Washington, D.C., have been contacting some of Meiner’s current and former colleagues at the SEC, seeking to speak to them about their experiences with Meiner or knowledge of any allegations against him. Before Meiner was elected mayor, the Herald reported that three former SEC employees, including two former interns, claimed he had made unwelcome advances toward them when they worked together.
The ongoing humanresources probe represents an escalation of concerns about Meiner’s behavior toward women at the SEC. According to eight current or former employees, those concerns have been quietly discussed for years among workers at the agency but seemingly never resulted in discipline.
Meiner, 52, has continued to work at the SEC since becoming mayor. Miami Beach elected officials serve in a part-time capacity and typically maintain their careers while in office.
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment about the human-resources inquiry, saying the agency doesn’t comment personnel matters.
Neither Meiner nor his chief of staff responded to multiple emails and text messages seeking comments about the SEC probe. Asked about the matter before a City Commission meeting Wednesday, Meiner told a Herald reporter, “I actually don’t know what you’re talking about.” He did not respond to a follow-up email sent shortly after.
Meiner has previously denied knowing anything about the women’s allegations. That includes a
2016 incident in which a former SEC attorney reported to her supervisor that Meiner, who is married, allegedly went into her office and told her that he wished to get an apartment to carry on an affair with her, triggering an internal review.
The outcome of that review is unclear. The SEC denied the Herald’s request for records on the inquiry.
Another woman, a former college intern, told the Herald last year that Meiner tried to kiss her when they went out for dinner in Miami one night after work in 2012. She told a colleague what happened the next day but didn’t formally report the incident.
A third woman, a former SEC legal intern, said that while she was in law school and after she left the agency, Meiner frequently asked her out for drinks and dinner and told her in text messages that she was “beautiful and smart.” She said the advances continued until she sent Meiner “several very direct texts reminding him he had a wife and kids and reminding him I was in a very serious relationship.”
All three women who spoke to the Herald last fall did so on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of retribution.
In November, Meiner said he has never faced a formal complaint or discipline from the SEC. In December, the agency rejected the Herald’s Freedom of Information Act request for records of any complaints against him, citing employee-confidentiality rules. The Herald is appealing the denial.
The woman who claimed Meiner asked her about getting a second apartment in 2016 said she was shocked by his comment and immediately reported it, triggering a review by the SEC’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. In an email that the woman later sent to her bosses and to an EEO attorney charged with looking into the incident, the woman noted that the EEO attorney had already spoken to Meiner to get his “side of the story” and that the attorney planned to speak with him again.
She resigned from the agency two months after the incident. She told the Herald that the incident and her feeling that the
SEC failed to properly address it led to her departure.
In November, Meiner, who is Jewish, told the Herald in a statement that he believes the claims about his conduct were “likely motivated by antiIsrael and antisemitic views.” He said that, more than a decade ago, a colleague had confronted him and made “inflammatory statements,” calling Israelis “colonizers” and expressing support for Hamas, and then spread “unflattering” rumors about him around the office.
Meiner said he reported this to upper management. He did not respond to a request for documentation or additional details.
During his run for mayor last year, Meiner emphasized the importance of ethics, independence from the influence of developers and a desire to crack down on crime. That message resonated with Miami Beach voters, who elected Meiner days after the Herald’s report on his alleged misconduct.
A copy of Meiner’s personnel file provided by the city of Miami Beach did not show any allegations of misconduct in his role as a commissioner.
The timeline for completion of the SEC’s review of Meiner’s conduct — and the potential consequences if he is found to have violated agency policies — remains unclear.
In a statement last year, SEC Chair Gary Gensler wrote that “workplace harassment will not be tolerated, and the SEC will correct the harassing conduct before it becomes severe or pervasive.”