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Disgraced ex-Gov Cuomo subjected 13 women ‘sexually hostile’ work environment, says DOJ

January 27, 2024 | | Print Article

The Department of Justice has weighed in on the allegations against disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the results don’t look good.

The DOJ specifically found that during his tenure as governor, Cuomo subjected over a dozen women to what has been described as 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 DOJ found.

The DOJ also found that, during this time, Cuomo’s top officials — all part of the Executive Chamber — refused to act.

“When employees attempted to raise concerns about Cuomo’s conduct to his senior staff, Cuomo’s staff failed to follow Equal Employment Opportunity policies and procedures to promptly report those allegations to the appropriate investigative body,” according to the DOJ.

“Indeed, the Executive Chamber’s response was designed only to protect Cuomo from further accusations, rather than to protect employees from sexual harassment,” the department’s conclusion continues.

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All of this was laid out in settlement papers published Friday. The settlement was reached between the state and the DOJ and stems from the original allegations filed against Cuomo years ago.

“In August 2021, the New York attorney general’s office found that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and created a ‘hostile’ work environment for women. Cuomo resigned a week after the state’s report was released,” according to CNN.

The settlement confirms the previous allegations and also includes additional reforms to prevent this sort of behavior from ever manifesting again.

“The reforms include the governor’s office creating a new ‘process for complaints against senior officials’ so that individuals lodging complaints can have ‘confidence that their complaints will be handled as independently as possible,'” CNN notes.

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“The governor’s office will also have to build an ‘anti-retaliation monitoring policy’ to help shield complainants from reprisal,” CNN’s reporting continues.

Politico notes that current New York Gov. Kathy Hochul already “implemented a series of [initial] reforms in the wake of Cuomo’s resignation” in August of 2021.

In a statement, she touted these very same reforms.

“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,” she said.

“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,” she added.

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In a separate statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division slammed Cuomo for having used his power to prey upon women.

“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,” she said.

“With this settlement agreement, the Executive Chamber under Governor Hochul is undertaking additional actions that will address system failures of the past while helping prevent the recurrence of systemic sexual harassment and retaliation in the future,” she added.

Cuomo is for his part sticking to his story of innocence.

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“Governor Cuomo did not sexually harass anyone,” his attorney, Rita Glavin, said in a statement. “The DOJ ‘investigation’ was based entirely on the NYS Attorney General’s deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased, and misleading report.”

“At no point did DOJ even contact Governor Cuomo concerning these matters. This is nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation,” she added.

But New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the powerful House Republican Conference, isn’t buying any of it.

“While Cuomo and his deranged sycophant enforcers are desperately trying to resurrect and rewrite their heinous legacy of lies, innocent lives lost, and rampant abuse, even the DOJ confirms that Andrew Cuomo is a corrupt criminal who illegally harassed women and retaliated against them while Governor,” she said in a searing statement.

Vivek Saxena
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