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Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is suing a former statehouse aide for defamation, claiming that her accusations of sexual harassment precipitated “a cascade of hurt,” and ruined him “each personally and professionally.”
In a summons and spot filed Thursday morning and obtained by The Unbiased, Cuomo insists Bennett “straight undermine[d]” her personal allegations in “tens of 1000’s of contemporaneous textual content and video messages,” and that she withheld this proof from New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James, who discovered that the disgraced governor made inappropriate advances towards a number of girls working below him. James’s investigation additionally discovered that Cuomo retaliated towards a minimum of one among his accusers for going public together with her complaints.
“Amongst different issues, the false accusations she publicized within the nationwide media have been a major think about requires an investigation into Governor Cuomo’s conduct,” Cuomo’s submitting states.
It calls James’s findings “biased, deceptive, and inaccurate,” and slams the AG for taking Bennett “at her phrase… with out acquiring or reviewing substantial materials related proof.”
On Thursday, Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, declined to touch upon the submitting, telling The Unbiased, “We’re simply going to let this one converse for itself.”
Debra Katz, Bennett’s lawyer, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Bennett, 28, filed a federal intercourse harrassment lawsuit towards the 67-year-old Cuomo in September 2022, however voluntarily dropped it earlier this month.
In a press release issued December 9, the day she withdrew her go well with, Bennett mentioned, “Former Governor Andrew Cuomo can now not use this lawsuit to harass me and my household. His abusive filings and invasive subpoenas are supposed to humiliate and retaliate towards me and people who have supported me over the past 5 years of this dwelling nightmare… All through this terribly painful two yr case, I’ve many occasions believed that I’d be higher off lifeless than endure extra of his litigation abuse, which has precipitated extraordinary ache and expense to my household and pals. I desperately have to dwell my life. That’s the selection I’m making immediately.”
Katz, in her personal companion assertion, mentioned Cuomo had made “an astonishing variety of invasive discovery requests and outrageous statements in pleadings to embarrass and humiliate” Bennett, together with requests for medical information from gynecologists courting again to when she was nonetheless a minor.
“This fishing expedition was designed to dig up materials to smear our consumer and distract from the truth that Mr. Cuomo did, because the New York Lawyer Normal’s Workplace concluded after a prolonged investigation, sexually harass Ms. Bennett and a minimum of 11 different girls,” Katz mentioned.
Cuomo’s submitting on Thursday takes exception to the statements themselves, calling them “false and defamatory.” He now says Bennett “embellished” her claims towards him, and “weaponized gentle moments within the workplace” by deeming them “humiliating” and “demeaning.” As an alternative, Cuomo claims that Bennett actually “instructed household and pals on the time that she discovered these interactions to be hilarious.”
Cuomo argues that Bennett was the one who “deliberately and intentionally initiated private conversations” about her private life, together with one through which she confided that she was a sexual assault survivor. However whereas Bennett later mentioned that the dialog made her really feel “uncomfortable,” Cuomo’s Thursday court docket submitting claims Bennett mentioned on video that it was “wonderful.” She additionally mentioned Cuomo made suggestive feedback to her, similar to a comment in regards to the giant measurement of his fingers.
In a 2021 interview with The New York Instances, Bennett mentioned Cuomo inquired about her private life, telling her that he was amenable to having a relationship with a lady in her 20s. Cuomo denied any improprieties, telling the Instances that he believed he was mentoring Bennett, and that he “by no means made advances towards Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to behave in any approach that was inappropriate.”
Bennett mentioned on the time that she “understood that the governor wished to sleep with me,” and mentioned this made her really feel “horribly uncomfortable and scared.” Every week after she complained to Cuomo’s then-chief of workers, Bennett was transferred out of Cuomo’s workplace to a different job, which she described in her federal go well with as retaliation.
Nonetheless, Cuomo’s Thursday submitting slams Bennett for the declare, saying she “had wished and sought such a brand new place for a while and particularly requested that place,” and goes on to accuse Bennett of in search of a payday.
Cuomo additional accuses Bennett of turning on him after asking him to evaluate a speech she deliberate to ship at Hamilton School in Could 2020, claiming she turned upset when his suggestions was “essential somewhat than laudatory.” In different conversations Bennett flagged as bothersome, Cuomo argues he was merely making an attempt to “examine on Bennett’s emotional well-being after she confirmed as much as work showing bodily unwell and after he heard that she was participating in impulsive and reckless conduct in or across the office.”
“Bennett loved the media highlight and she or he and her brokers gave quite a few public interviews, together with on nationwide tv broadcasts, repeating her false claims,” Cuomo’s submitting cointends. “From day one, Governor Cuomo denied ever having sexually harassed Bennett (or anybody else).”
Cuomo is in search of compensatory and punitive damages to be decided in court docket. Bennett’s lawsuit towards New York State, her former employer, stays open.
#York #Gov #Andrew #Cuomo #sue #accuser #Charlotte #Bennett #defamation #intercourse #harassment #claims
The Unbiased
#York #Gov #Andrew #Cuomo #sue #accuser #Charlotte #Bennett #defamation #intercourse #harassment #claims
Justin Rohrlich , 2024-12-19 16:49:00