Andrew Cuomo sues lady who accused him of sexual harassment for defamation

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit Thursday in opposition to a former aide who alleged he sexually harassed her in 2020. His authorized submitting got here simply days after she withdrew her personal lawsuit in opposition to him. 

Within the submitting, Cuomo’s legal professionals claimed Charlotte Bennett, a former government assistant in his workplace, lied about him making sexual advances towards her. 

“Governor Cuomo didn’t make any sexual advances towards Bennett and didn’t sexually harass her,” his legal professionals wrote in a discover filed in New York state court docket on Thursday. 

Bennett was the second lady to accuse the then-governor of sexual harassment, which she stated included telling her he was “lonely” and asking her if she can be open to intercourse with an older man. She described Cuomo as “a textbook abuser” who made her “deeply uncomfortable.”

After Bennett went public along with her allegations in March 2021, Cuomo held a press convention the place he stated he felt “embarrassed” and that he “by no means knew on the time I used to be making anybody really feel uncomfortable.”

In Thursday’s submitting, his legal professionals wrote the previous governor confronted “a cascade of hurt” on account of Bennett’s allegations. 

Cuomo resigned in August 2021 after New York’s legal professional common launched the outcomes of an investigation that concluded he had sexually harassed at the very least 11 ladies, together with Bennett.

When that investigation got here out, Cuomo denied ever sexually harassing ladies. “The info are a lot completely different than what has been portrayed,” Cuomo stated on the time. “I by no means touched anybody inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”

Final week, Bennett dropped a separate federal go well with she had filed in 2022 accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment. In a press release posted by her legal professional on X, Bennett cited “invasive discovery requests” made by Cuomo’s authorized group that included her medical data from greater than a decade in the past.  

Of their submitting right this moment, Cuomo’s attorneys notice that their discovery requests fell “underneath the principles that govern all federal lawsuits. They alleged Bennett dropped her go well with to keep away from being deposed and to “defend the overwhelming proof of her false claims from ever changing into public.” 

Cuomo’s discover stated “Bennett’s claims have been …  uncovered as a sham by the invention course of.”

Bennett’s legal professional, Debra Katz, stated in a press release Thursday: “There’s a lengthy historical past of utilizing defamation lawsuits to silence and punish accusers of sexual harassment. It’s shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path.”

As a part of her assertion final week, an legal professional for Bennett stated she would nonetheless be pursuing a case in opposition to the state of New York, her employer on the time of the alleged harassment. In a separate assertion, Bennett known as Cuomo’s authorized filings “abusive.”

“All through this terribly painful two-year case, I’ve many instances believed that I would be higher off useless than endure extra of his litigation abuse, which has triggered extraordinary ache and expense to my household and pals,” Bennett stated. “I desperately must dwell my life.”