Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 13 female employees, retaliated against ex-staff: Feds

Federal prosecutors are backing the New York attorney general’s findings that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed several women and created a hostile work environment in the governor’s office.

In a settlement agreement between the feds and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced Friday, the US Attorney’s Office slammed Cuomo for sexually harassing and later retaliating against former employees, even though the former governor continues to deny the allegations.

“Former Governor Cuomo subjected at least thirteen female employees of New York State, including Executive Chamber employees, to a sexually hostile work environment. Governor Cuomo repeatedly subjected these female employees to unwelcome, non-consensual sexual contact; ogling; unwelcome sexual comments; gender-based nicknames; comments on their physical appearances; and/or preferential treatment based on their physical appearances,” the report reads.

The settlement agreement was the result of federal prosecutors’ own investigation into the former governor, which was carried out separately from probes initiated by Attorney General Letitia James and the state Assembly Judiciary Committee.

The federal investigation into Cuomo began sometime in 2021, revolving around whether Cuomo and his office violated labor and civil right laws as the former governor was being pounded with a litany of sexual harassment allegations.

Though it carries no formal legal charges against Cuomo, the federal settlement drew the same conclusions as the 2021 report by special prosecutors hired by Attorney General Letitia James that ultimately led to the disgraced-ex Governor’s resignation.

“The conduct in the Executive Chamber under the former governor, the state’s most powerful elected official, was especially egregious because of the stark power differential involved and the victims’ lack of avenues to report and redress harassment,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division wrote in a statement.

Attorneys for Cuomo continue to deny the allegations and further claim that the federal investigation was politically motivated.

“This is nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation,” Rita Glavin, an attorney for the former governor, wrote in a statement.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said Cuomo hadn’t been interviewed as part of the federal investigation. He also bashed Breon Peace the U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York who signed off on the settlement, claiming he’s biased because he used to work at the same firm as one of the prosecutors in the attorney general’s investigation.

“This isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on,” Azzopardi said.

“Andrew Cuomo can continue to deny the truth and attack these women, but the facts do not lie,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General said.

Several of the accusers also touted the feds’ findings as another victory.

“The DOJ’s independent investigation and subsequent settlement agreement with the Executive Chamber eviscerates Mr. Cuomo’s repeated refrain that the Attorney General’s findings were politically motivated,” Debra Katz, an attorney for Charlotte Bennett wrote in a statement. “They obviously were not.”

The settlement between Hochul and the feds lays out recommendations for restructuring the governor’s office to prevent retaliation that the investigators say Cuomo unleashed on his accusers.

“We appreciate the Governor’s stated determination to make sure that sexual harassment does not recur at the highest level of New York State government,” Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, wrote in a statement. “We share that goal and enter into this agreement to advance our common goal of creating clear, comprehensive and, most importantly, enduring policies preventing sexual harassment in the Executive Chamber.”

The agreement states that Hochul has already implemented a number of reforms, including removing Cuomo’s allies who helped facilitate his misconduct, creating an human resources department within her office, and instituting a workplace sexual harassment hotline among others. The governor will, according to the agreement, take additional steps like implementing a clear policy about retaliation and moving the process for filing complaints to be handled by the New York State’s Office of Employee Relations instead of an independent firm, as it’s handled now.

“The moment I took office, I knew I needed to root out the culture of harassment that had previously plagued the Executive Chamber and implement strong policies to promote a safe workplace for all employees, and took immediate action to do so,” Hochul wrote in a statement. “I am pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged the significance of those efforts, and look forward to partnering with them as we continue to build upon that success.”

Several of Cuomo’s accusers have pursued their own legal action against the former governor. Bennett as well as an unnamed state trooper from Cuomo’s protective detail have both filed lawsuits in federal court against the former governor. Another accuser, Brittany Commisso, is suing Cuomo in state court.