Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 63, exhibits all the signs of a sexually harassing bully, preying on young women staff, pushing them around making the same juvenile jokes about their appearance but, at the same time, crossing the line to violate New York state and federal laws governing workplace harassment. Cuomo’s feeble apologies that he never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings are completely irrelevant because what counts are not his intentions but his actions. Former aid Lindsey Boylan, whom Cuomo claims has it in for him politically, told New Yorker magazine’s Ronan Farrow that Cuomo said to her in Feb. 2018 that if he were a dog, he would “mount,” her, not just a disgusting comment but demonstrating flagrant disregard for the New York state and federal laws related to workplace harassment. Cuomo likes to say, “I never touched anyone,” as if that’s necessary for workplace harassment.
All the complaints against Cuomo from eight different women, most of whom former or current employees, report exactly the same things, that the governor made sexually explicit comments or asked them about the private lives and whether or not they’d be open to having a sexual relationship with an older man. Most of Cuomo’s office aids have been in their early 20s, some 40 year age difference with the governor.. “I remember being grossed out but, also, like, what a dumb third-grade thing to say,” Boylan told Farrow. She said at the time she didn’t respond and “just shrugged it off,” something many women do working for powerful men in various industries worried about career repercussions for not acquiescing to the harassment. When Boylan went public Feb. 28 Cuomo’s communication director Peter Ajemian said Boylan was out to ruin Cuomo politically.
Boylan actually tweeted in December 2020 that Cuomo “sexually harassed me for years,” prompting seven other women to come forward with similar stories. President Joe Biden, 78, who was also accused of a far worse crime, sexual assault, by former Senate aid Tara Reade, said the public should reserve judgment until New York Atty. Gen. Leticia James finishes her investigation. Well, whatever James finds, it’s certainly not going to be exculpatory, simply because all the sexual harassment stories corroborate each other. Sixty percent of the New York State legislature thinks Cuomo should resign, including Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Yet Biden thinks James investigation puts the official stamp of approval on calls for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment. No one doubts the veracity of multiple overlapping reports of harassment.
It’s insulting to the victims of Cuomo’s reckless behavior to give him one minute more in the governor’s office. When multiple reports of workplace harassment come from at least seven women, it’s time to take action, not wait for lengthy investigations that tend to drag out because of formality and bureaucracy. Getting due process doesn’t mean that the police don’t make arrests, charge criminals, jail them and give them their days in court. With elected officials, it’s OK to give them 14th Amendment rights but only after they’ve been removed from the crime scene where they continue to break the law. Cuomo’s a serial offender, requiring immediate removal from the crime scene. Current 33-year-old Cuomo aid Alyssa McGrath said she’s been subjected to his workplace bullying and inappropriate behavior. McGrath felt uncomfortable when Cuomo said in Italian that she was beautiful.
With Cuomo it’s not the inappropriate compliments, it’s the roving eyes and intensity that makes the women uncomfortable, knowing, he’s lusting after them, whether he touches them or not. No employee should be subjected to workplace harassment, regardless of whether the governor thinks it’s innocuous. “I put my head down waiting for him to start speaking, and he didn’t start speaking,” McGrath said. “So I looked up to see what was going on. And he was blatantly looking down my shirt,” detailing her uncomfortable interaction with the governor. McGrath admitted at a Christmas party Cuomo kissed her forehead, refuting his refrain that “he never touched anyone.” Letting Cuomo conduct business-as-usual in the governor’s office subjects more young women to possible harassment, obviously from someone who has no control of himself, believing he’s doing nothing wrong.
Cuomo’s refusal to step down, calling the accusations against him “reckless and danagerous,” like he’s not being given due process. When you think about due process with sexual predators, it’s not appropriate to keep them in the crime scenes to tempt them to commit more inappropriate actions. “I never, ever meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone or cause anyone pain. I feel terrible that these people felt uncomfortable, felt hurt, felt pain from the interactions, and I’m embarrassed by it, and I feel bad from it,” Cuomo confessed, sticking to his misguided belief that intent matters. It doesn’t matter what Andrew felt or didn’t feel, what matters is that he broke New York state and a federal laws governing workplace harassment. Cuomo’s admitted to workplace harassment, just wants to be excused because he apologized. Cuomo’s lawyers Rita Glavin knows her client broke state and federal workplace laws.
