Ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was sued on Wednesday by his former aide who accused him of sexually harassing her from 2019 to August 2021.
The Times-Union reported that Brittany Commisso, 35, filed the lawsuit under the Adult Survivors Act, which is to expire on Friday. In October 2021, Albany police filed criminal charges against Cuomo amid allegations that he groped executive assistant Commisso’s breast in late 2020.
The Albany County District Attorney said last year that it would not prosecute Cuomo for forcible touching as an independent investigation determined the allegations did not reach a burden of proof. Reports indicated that police unilaterally filed the criminal charges against Cuomo without notifying prosecutors — who called the victim “credible.”
Commisso said in the summons that Cuomo had “pervasive abusive conduct” — which included retaliating against her after she reported him for sexual misconduct in March 2021. Commisso said she faced additional backlash from Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration following Cuomo’s resignation, according to the Times-Union.
Cuomo resigned in August 2021, after the Attorney General’s Office released a 165-page report that determined he sexually harassed multiple women in the workplace, retaliated against one of his accusers for going public with her claims, and harbored a toxic work environment.
The embattled governor called for an independent probe into mounting sexual harassment allegations. In March 2021, Attorney General Letitia James appointed former acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim and veteran employment lawyer Anne Clark to lead the investigation.
Allegations of sexual harassment started mounting in February 2021 when another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, detailed her alleged encounters with the governor in a Medium blog post. She wrote that Cuomo “abused his power” to sexually harass her and other women in the workplace.
In the weeks that followed Boylan’s blog post, five more women, including at least three aides, came forward and accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Cuomo has denied inappropriately touching anyone but apologized for behaving in a manner that made his female colleagues uncomfortable.
Politico reported earlier this week that Cuomo was considering a run for New York City mayor if a federal corruption investigation takes down current Mayor Eric Adams.
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[Featured image: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP]
