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St. Louis County Circuit Court to play role in Trump’s labor secretary nomination

ST. LOUIS – Two days before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions holds its confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Labor, Andrew Puzder, a Missouri Court will debate whether or not his divorce records go public.

Puzder, a longtime resident of St. Louis, is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast food chains. He divorced his ex-wife, Lisa Henning (now Fierstein) in 1987, and during those proceedings, she alleged he abused her during their marriage. Recently, she has stated she regrets making the allegations. The group trying to shed light on the divorce record says it’s important to vet a man who will hold the position of advocating for American workers.

“President Trump has nominated Mr. Puzder to head the Department of Labor, where he would oversee efforts to combat workplace harassment and violence,” Daniel Stevens, the executive director of Campaign for Accountability, said in a statement last week. “Before the United States Senate votes on whether Mr. Puzder is qualified to lead an agency charged with protecting the safety of American workers – including millions of women – the public is entitled to full information about Mr. Puzder’s record.”

The court will decide whether or not to make the records public Feb. 14.

Puzder’s confirmation hearing, set for Feb. 16, has been rescheduled four times due in part to Senate scheduling conflicts and some missing paperwork. Senate Democrats have repeatedly denounced Puzder’s record when it came to workers in his own companies, and many have asked his nomination be rescinded.

Puzder came to prominence in Missouri as an anti-abortion lawyer in the 1980s and early 1990s after he worked as a corporate lawyer for Morris Shenker’s firm in St. Louis.