Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, will address allegations of sexual harassment made by his vice president last month at a press conference slated for Tuesday.
The allegations were made by Navajo Nation Vice President Richelle Montoya, the first woman to be elected to the office. Montoya posted a video in April to her personal Facebook account just a day after the Navajo state of the union.
"As your vice president, in the month of August of 2023, I had to write a statement because I was sexually harassed," she said in the video.
Montoya said she detailed what happened to her in a meeting with an unspecified man and said she was unhurt.
"But I was made to feel I had no power to leave the room," she said.
In the nearly 90-minute-long video, the vice president said she’d recently separated from her husband at the time.
Montoya said she has been threatened as a result and that others in the administration are being bullied as well.
She said staff asked her what she wanted.
"My response was that I didn’t want to be alone with this person ever," and that the suggestion had been made that she and others in the office attend training even though she was a victim.
In a press release, President Buu Nygren said he will address the allegations and workplace safety.
Nygren has said he will not tolerate Navajo Nation employees making the workplace unsafe for others.
