Disgraced former Gov. Cuomo subjected 13 women to 'sexually hostile' work environment, DOJ says

The Department of Justice has weighed in on 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 more than a dozen women to what has been described as a “sexually hostile work environment.”

“Governor Cuomo repeatedly subjected these employees to unwanted and non-consensual sexual contact; fighting; unwanted sexual comments; gender-based nicknames; comments about their physical appearance; and/or preferential treatment based on their physical appearance” , the DOJ found.

Justice Department Reaches Settlement with New York State Executive Chamber to Resolve Title VII Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Claims@Civil rights https://t.co/DNAxh1CrjN

— The US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) January 26, 2024

The DOJ also found that, during that time, Cuomo's top officials – all part of the Executive House – refused to act.

“When employees attempted to raise concerns about Cuomo's conduct with their superiors, Cuomo's staff did not follow Equal Employment Opportunity policies and procedures to promptly report these allegations to the agency of corresponding investigation,” according to the DOJ.

“In fact, the House response was designed only to protect Cuomo from further accusations, rather than to protect employees from sexual harassment,” the department's conclusion continues.

All of this was laid out in settlement documents released on Friday. The settlement was reached between the state and the DOJ and stems from the original complaints 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 release of the state report,” according to CNN.

In a settlement reached Friday, the Justice Department concluded that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 13 women who worked in his office and that he and his staff retaliated against some of the victims after they complain pic.twitter.com/uanvTwXhZm

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEeveningNews) January 27, 2024

The settlement confirms the above allegations and also includes additional reforms to prevent this type of behavior from appearing again.

“The reforms include the governor's office creating a new 'process for complaints against senior officials' so that people who make complaints can have 'confidence that their complaints will be dealt with as independently as possible,'” CNN notes.

“The governor's office will also be required to develop an 'anti-retaliation follow-up policy' to help protect whistleblowers from retaliation,” the CNN report continues.

Politico notes that current New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has already “implemented a number of [initial] reforms following Cuomo's resignation” in August 2021.

In a statement, he promoted these same reforms.

“The moment I took office, I knew I had 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 I took immediate steps to do so,” he said.

“I am pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has recognized the importance of these efforts, and I look forward to working with them as we continue to build on this success,” he added.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Sues AG Letitia James Over 'False Report' That Led To Her Resignation https://t.co/Ua4uAyKCna road @BIZPACRevision

— Based on BPR (@DumpstrFireNews) January 20, 2024

In a separate statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division criticized Cuomo for using his power to target women.

“The conduct in the Executive House under the former governor, the state's most powerful elected official, was particularly egregious because of the vast power differential involved and the lack of avenues for victims to report and redress the harassment,” he said.

“With this settlement agreement, the Executive House under Governor Hochul is taking additional actions that will address the system's failures of the past while helping to prevent the recurrence of systemic sexual harassment and retaliation in the future,” he said. add.

For his part, Cuomo is sticking to his story of innocence.

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

“At no time did the DOJ contact Governor Cuomo regarding these matters. This is nothing more than a political settlement without an investigation,” he added.

Statement from former Governor Andrew Cuomo's attorney in response

“Governor Cuomo did not sexually harass anyone. The DOJ 'investigation' was based entirely on the New York Attorney General's deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased and misleading report. At no time did the DOJ contact Cuomo https://t.co/ZqchbVGGwj pic.twitter.com/ej7y94JyOV

— Morgan McKay (@morganfmckay) January 26, 2024

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

“While Cuomo and his deranged enforcer sycophants are desperately trying to resurrect and rewrite his heinous legacy of lies, lost innocent lives, and rampant abuse, even the DOJ confirms that Andrew Cuomo is a corrupt criminal who harassed women il… legally and retaliated against them while he was governor.” she said in a seed statement.

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

V. Saxena is a BizPac Review staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

Latest posts from Vivek Saxena (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.