Andrew Cuomo leaves Il Postino restaurant in Manhattan, New York City on Monday, December 19, 2022.
Gardiner Anderson | New York Daily News | Getty Images
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo subjected at least 13 girls to a “sexually hostile work surroundings” whereas he was in workplace, the Department of Justice said Friday as a part of an settlement with the state’s present government workplace.
Cuomo “repeatedly subjected these feminine workers to unwelcome, non-consensual sexual contact; ogling; unwelcome sexual feedback; gender-based nicknames; feedback on their bodily appearances; and/or preferential remedy based mostly on their bodily appearances,” the DOJ mentioned it discovered.
The governor’s workplace beneath Cuomo knew about his conduct however didn’t successfully cease it, the DOJ concluded from the investigation it launched in August 2021, the identical month Cuomo resigned amid mounting sexual harassment allegations.
Cuomo’s workplace as a substitute labored to guard the then-governor from additional accusations — and his senior workers retaliated in opposition to 4 of the ladies he harassed, the DOJ mentioned.
Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin in an announcement to CNBC mentioned the previous governor “didn’t sexually harass anybody.”
“The DOJ ‘investigation’ was based mostly completely on the NYS Attorney General’s deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased, and deceptive report,” Glavin mentioned.
That report, which got here out in Aug. 3, 2021, discovered that Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 girls and retaliated in opposition to at least one former worker who got here ahead to accuse him.
“At no level did DOJ even contact Governor Cuomo regarding these issues,” Glavin mentioned Friday. “This is nothing greater than a political settlement with no investigation.”
The DOJ revealed its findings because it introduced an agreement to resolve its claims that Cuomo’s workplace “engaged in a sample or apply of sexual harassment and retaliation” in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The DOJ mentioned the settlement with the State of New York Executive Chamber, at the moment led by Gov. Kathy Hochul, memorializes reforms she has already carried out and commits the workplace to enacting extra adjustments.
The settlement additionally notes that, in “consideration” for the manager chamber getting into into the settlement, the DOJ is refraining from submitting a grievance on its allegations.
Hochul in an announcement mentioned that when she took workplace, she “took instant motion” to “root out the tradition of harassment that had beforehand plagued the Executive Chamber and implement sturdy insurance policies to advertise a protected office for all workers.”
“I’m happy that the U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged the importance of these efforts, and sit up for partnering with them as we proceed to construct upon that success,” Hochul mentioned.
Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, famous to CNBC that the settlement says it doesn’t embody a “discovering on the deserves of the case.”
In a separate assertion, Azzopardi instructed that Breon Peace, the U.S. lawyer who signed off on the settlement, had a battle of curiosity as a result of he was the regulation accomplice of Joon Kim, who led the New York AG’s 2021 investigation of Cuomo.
“This is not well worth the paper it is printed on, and it is ironic that Gov. Hochul, who herself is being accused of retaliation, signed off on it,” Azzopardi mentioned.
But Mariann Wang, an lawyer for Alyssa McGrath and Virginia Limmiatis, two girls Cuomo allegedly harassed, celebrated the settlement.
“We are happy the US Attorney’s workplace and the Executive Chamber have taken critical steps to make sure nothing just like the abuse Cuomo engaged in will occur once more,” Wang mentioned in an announcement.
“We hope these measures have actual impression and stop the sort of repeated abuse of energy that resulted in a lot hurt to so many ladies,” Wang mentioned.