Former Aide to Governor Cuomo Accuses him of Sexual Harassment

On Sunday, November 13, 2020, a former aide to New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, accused him of sexual assault.  Lindsey Boylan, who served as Governor Cuomo’s deputy secretary with Empire State Development (New York State’s economic development agency within the Governor’s administration), and as a special adviser to the governor from March 2015 to October, tweeted:

“Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many Saw it, and watched.
I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.”

Excluding the above tweet, Ms. Boylan has not provided further evidence or elaboration of her claims nor has she responded to questions posed by various news outlets.  She also posted on twitter that she did not wish to speak to journalists about the matter.  Ms. Boylan stated, “I have no interest in talking to journalists.  I am about validating the experience of countless women and making sure abuse stops.  My worst fear is that this continues.”  About one week ago, Boylan posted on twitter that Governor Cuomo’s administration was the, “most toxic team environment” also stating that people were “deathly afraid of him.”

Governor Cuomo’s press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, submitted a statement to the Huffington Post, stating, “There is simply no truth to these claims.”  On Monday, Governor Cuomo denied the claims at a press conference.  “Look, I fought for and I believe a woman has the right to come forward and express her opinion and express issues and concerns that she has,” the Governor stated. “But it’s just not true.”  The Huffington Post and the Associated Press accessed documents which describe that Boylan resigned from her post at the Empire State Development in 2018 amid coworkers’ accusations of Boylan exhibiting abusive behavior from multiple coworkers.  An anonymous coworker who spoke with the Huffington Post, said that they witnessed Ms. Boylan yelling at staff and threatening them with termination, while using inappropriate language.  In the Spring of 2019, Ms. Boylan ran for office against U.S. Representative Jerold Nadler.  This fall, she announced a campaign for Manhattan Borough President.

Notably, in 2018, New York State enacted measures to further combat sexual harassment, such as new standards for sexual harassment training in the workplace.  Additionally, the statute of limitations for bringing forth claims of sexual harassment in the workplace to the New York State Division of Human Rights was recently extended from one year to three years, and sexual harassment no longer needs to be “severe or pervasive” under the State Human Rights Law for the employer to be held liable, another win for potential plaintiffs.

If you have been a victim of sexual harassment or if you have questions about something that occurred in the workplace and you think it might be harassment, we can help. For more information or to schedule a consultation, contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. to schedule a free consultation.  For more information or to speak to someone about harassment in the workplace, visit our websites: www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or call any of our phone numbers: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.