Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is suing a former statehouse aide for defamation, claiming that her accusations of sexual harassment caused “a cascade of harm,” and ruined him “both personally and professionally.”
In a summons and notice filed Thursday morning and obtained by The Independent, Cuomo insists Bennett “directly undermine[d]” her own allegations in “tens of thousands of contemporaneous text and video messages,” and that she withheld this evidence from New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who found that the ex-governor made inappropriate advances toward multiple women working under him. James’s investigation also found that Cuomo retaliated against at least one of his accusers for going public with her complaints.
“Among other things, the false accusations she publicized in the national media were a significant factor in calls for an investigation into Governor Cuomo’s conduct,” Cuomo’s filing states.
Public pressure following James’s report led Cuomo to step down from office in 2021. He has recently floated the possibility of mounting a political comeback, generating speculation — and constenation among Democrats — that he may run for New York City mayor. Another of the former governor’s accusers, ex-aide Brittany Commisso, said she found Cuomo’s desire to reenter politics “sad.”
Cuomo’s filing, docketed in New York State Supreme Court, calls James’s findings “biased, misleading, and inaccurate,” and slams the AG for taking Bennett “at her word… without obtaining or reviewing substantial material relevant evidence.”
On Thursday, Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, declined to comment on the filing, telling The Independent, “We’re just going to let this one speak for itself.”
Debra Katz, Bennett’s attorney, said in a statement that sexual harassment accusers have long been subjected to defamation suits to “silence and punish” them, adding, “It is shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path.”
In an emailed statement to The Independent, former NYS State Senate staffer Erica Vladimer, who co-founded the Sexual Harassment Working Group in 2018 after allegedly receiving an unwanted advance from her then-boss, called Cuomo’s intention to sue “outrageous,” and said he is “using the judicial system to further victimize Charlotte Bennett... while threatening anyone else into silence.”
Bennett, 28, filed a federal sex harassment lawsuit against the 67-year-old Cuomo in September 2022 but voluntarily dropped it earlier this month. In a statement issued December 9, the day she withdrew her suit, Bennett said, “Former Governor Andrew Cuomo can no longer use this lawsuit to harass me and my family. His abusive filings and invasive subpoenas are meant to humiliate and retaliate against me and those who have supported me over the last five years of this living nightmare… Throughout this extraordinarily painful two year case, I’ve many times believed that I’d be better off dead than endure more of his litigation abuse, which has caused extraordinary pain and expense to my family and friends. I desperately need to live my life. That’s the choice I am making today.”
Katz, in her own companion statement, said Cuomo had made “an astonishing number of invasive discovery requests and outrageous statements in pleadings to embarrass and humiliate” Bennett, including requests for medical records from gynecologists dating back to when she was still a minor.
“This fishing expedition was designed to dig up material to smear our client and distract from the fact that Mr. Cuomo did, as the New York Attorney General’s Office concluded after a lengthy investigation, sexually harass Ms. Bennett and at least 11 other women,” Katz said.
Cuomo’s filing on Thursday contends that Bennett dismissed the suit in order “to shield the overwhelming evidence of her false claims from ever becoming public.” The filing takes exception to the December 9 statements themselves, calling them “false and defamatory.” He now says Bennett “embellished” her claims against him, and “weaponized light moments in the office” by deeming them “humiliating” and “demeaning.”
Cuomo claims that Bennett in fact “told family and friends at the time that she found these interactions to be hilarious.”
Cuomo argues that Bennett was the one who “intentionally and deliberately initiated personal conversations” about her personal life, including one in which she confided that she was a sexual assault survivor. While Bennett later said that the conversation made her feel “uncomfortable,” Cuomo’s Thursday court filing claims Bennett said on video that it was “amazing.” She also said Cuomo made suggestive comments to her, such as a remark about the large size of his hands.
In a 2021 interview with The New York Times, Bennett said Cuomo inquired about her personal life, telling her that he was amenable to having a relationship with a woman in her 20s. Cuomo denied any improprieties, telling the Times that he believed he was mentoring Bennett, and that he “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.”
Bennett said at the time that she “understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me,” and said this made her feel “horribly uncomfortable and scared.” A week after she complained to Cuomo’s then-chief of staff, Bennett was transferred out of Cuomo’s office to another job, which she described in her federal suit as retaliation.
However, Cuomo’s Thursday filing slams Bennett for the claim, saying she “had wanted and sought such a new position for some time and specifically requested that position,” and goes on to accuse Bennett of seeking a payday.
Cuomo further accuses Bennett of turning on him after asking him to review a speech she planned to deliver at Hamilton College in May 2020, claiming she became upset when his feedback was “critical rather than laudatory.” In other conversations Bennett flagged as bothersome, Cuomo argues he was simply trying to “check on Bennett’s emotional well-being after she showed up to work appearing physically unwell and after he heard that she was engaging in impulsive and reckless behavior in or around the workplace.”
“Bennett enjoyed the media spotlight, and she and her agents gave numerous public interviews, including on national television broadcasts, repeating her false claims,” Cuomo’s filing contends. “From day one, Governor Cuomo denied ever having sexually harassed Bennett (or anyone else).”
Cuomo says in the filing that he “fully intends to clear his name,” and that he wants to “ensure that Bennett and her agents never again repeat the falsehood that he sexually harassed Bennett.” He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined in court.
Bennett’s lawsuit against New York State, her former employer, remains open.
