St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry has sued Mayor Kaohly Her, alleging sexual harassment, lewd “MILF” remarks, unwanted contact and retaliation after he complained, claims her office says an independent probe did not substantiate.
Fox News reported that Henry, St. Paul’s top law enforcement officer since 2022, filed a harassment complaint and a 73-page lawsuit accusing the mayor of sexually harassing city employees, including officers, making lewd comments in text messages, and engaging in unwanted physical contact.
The suit also claims that after Henry lodged an internal complaint, Her and her administration launched a campaign to retaliate against him and discredit him. Her’s office says an independent investigation cleared her of sexual harassment and retaliation. The dispute now sits in active litigation while the mayor continues to run the city.
Her took the oath on Jan. 2, 2026, as St. Paul’s first Hmong and first female mayor at St. Catherine University’s O’Shaughnessy Auditorium. The clash between the new mayor and her police chief has quickly become a test of workplace rules, chain of command, and whether city hall will face the same scrutiny it demands of everyone else.
The complaint describes a pattern of comments and conduct that Henry says crossed professional lines. It alleges Her referred to herself as a “MILF,” made sexually suggestive remarks about Henry’s genitalia, and placed her hand on his upper thigh beneath a conference table during a budget meeting.
It further claims she made frequent trips to the police department gym when Henry was there, called him and other employees “beefy,” and “simulated an orgasm” while working out near them.
At an awards ceremony, Henry wore a Mobile Field Force ribbon abbreviated “MFF.” The suit says Her asked what the letters meant, then answered her own question: “Oh, I thought it said MILF so maybe I could get one.”
In December, Henry met Her and St. Paul Port Authority President Todd Hurley at a cigar lounge to discuss moving the downtown police station. The complaint alleges Her threatened that if she did not get her way, she would tell people the chief “grabbed her a**.”
In February, Henry and a colleague used personal vacation time at a golf simulator in Woodbury, Minnesota. The suit says Her showed up uninvited, told them she “had to come like this because you guys wouldn’t invite me,” and stayed about 20 minutes.
Her’s office pushed back hard on the core charges. Fox Minneapolis carried the city’s line that outside reviewers found no proven misconduct.
Her’s office stated:
"An independent investigation did not substantiate claims of sexual harassment or retaliation against any city employee,"
The City of Saint Paul added that leadership would not freeze while lawyers fight.
The city said:
"The mayor will continue to lead Saint Paul and follow the recommendations of the report. Beyond that, the City of Saint Paul doesn’t comment on active litigation."
Henry’s filing paints a different picture of that same review. It alleges officials released a “sanitized” two-page summary of the independent investigation, withheld records, and shut the chief out of key decisions after he complained. The suit frames those steps as payback, not routine management.
Her has characterized some of her own remarks as attempts at humor that fell short and has said she cooperated with the independent investigation. The full wording of that humor explanation was not published in the available reporting, and the court docket details of the 73-page complaint were not named in the coverage.
Earlier this month, Her officially transferred her personal security detail and driver services from the St. Paul Police Department to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. The timing lands after the complaint and amid the fight over who controls access, records, and the public narrative.
Taxpayers still fund the mayor’s protection either way. What changed is the agency that provides it, and the message that shift sends inside a department whose chief is now suing the person at the top of city hall.
No injuries or arrests are described in the reporting. The immediate consequences are institutional: active litigation, a disputed internal probe, alleged exclusion of the police chief from decisions, and a security arrangement pulled away from his own force.
Sexual harassment rules exist to protect workers and to keep public offices from turning into private hunting grounds. When the accused is the mayor and the complainant is the police chief, the public has a right to the full record, the 73-page complaint, the unredacted investigative findings, and a clear timeline of every administrative move that followed Henry’s internal complaint.
Her’s office rests on an investigation it says cleared her. Henry’s lawsuit says the city answered with a thin summary and a campaign to sideline him. Both cannot be the whole truth. One of them is protecting power at the expense of a clean workplace.
St. Paul residents did not elect a mayor to trade crude jokes in the gym, put a hand on a subordinate under the table, or threaten a smear if a station move went the wrong way, if those allegations hold. They also did not hire a police chief to wage personal war by lawsuit if the claims collapse under scrutiny. The job of city government is to produce the documents, name the investigator, and let the evidence decide.
Until that full file is public, every claim of “humor,” every two-page summary, and every security transfer will look like damage control. Public office is not a lounge act. Conduct has consequences, and voters should demand the same standard at the top that the city imposes on everyone else.
