Andrew Cuomo sues woman who accused him of sexual harassment for defamation
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit Thursday against a former aide, accusing him of sexually harassing her in 2020. Days later, he filed legal action she withdrew her lawsuit against him.
In the filing, Cuomo’s attorneys allege that Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant in Cuomo’s office, falsely claimed that Cuomo made sexual advances toward her.
“Governor Cuomo did not make any sexual advances towards Bennett nor did he sexually harass her,” his attorneys wrote in a notice filed in a New York state court on Thursday.
Bennett was the second woman to accuse the then-governor of sexual harassment, which she said included telling her he was “lonely” and asking her if she would have sex with an older man. She described Cuomo as a “textbook abuser” that made her “deeply uncomfortable.”
In March 2021, after Bennett made the allegations publicly, Cuomo held a press conference in which he said he felt “embarrassed” and “never knew at the time that I made anyone uncomfortable.”
In Thursday’s filing, his attorneys wrote that the former governor faces “a series of harms” as a result of Bennett’s allegations.
Cuomo resigns In August 2021, the New York Attorney General issued findings It concluded that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, including Bennett.
After the results of the investigation came out, Cuomo denied that he had ever sexually harassed women. “The facts are much different than what has been described,” Cuomo said at the time. “I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”
Last week, Bennett dropped another federal lawsuit she filed in 2022 accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment. in a statement Her lawyer posted on XBennett cited an “intrusive discovery request” filed by Cuomo’s legal team that included her medical records from more than a decade ago.
In a filing today, Cuomo’s attorneys noted that their discovery request complies with “the rules of all federal proceedings.” They claimed Bennett dropped the lawsuit to avoid being deposed and “protect overwhelming evidence of her false accusations from being made public.”
“Bennett’s claims … were exposed as a hoax during the discovery process,” Cuomo’s notice said.
As part of Bennett’s statement last week, an attorney for Bennett said she would still file a lawsuit against the state of New York, her employer at the time of the alleged harassment. In a separate statement, Bennett called Cuomo’s legal filing “abusive.”
Bennett said: “Throughout this extremely painful two-year case, I believed many times that it would be better for me to die rather than endure more of his legal abuse, which caused tremendous pain and expense to my family and friends. “I desperately need to live my life.”
