In a recent legal maneuver, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has filed a lawsuit against Charlotte Bennett, a former aide who had accused him of sexual harassment. Cuomo's filing comes on the heels of Bennett's decision to drop her own lawsuit against him, which was accompanied by her citing "invasive discovery requests" by Cuomo's legal team involving her medical history, according to information obtained by CBS News.
The move by Cuomo indicates his intention to claim damages for what he describes as false accusations that Bennett has made, maliciously designed to "cause harm," and his lawyers allege that Bennett discontinued her federal suit to prevent the overwhelming evidence of her false claims from ever becoming public, these details as reported by Gothamist. This legal action from the ex-governor follows a previous investigation led by the state Attorney General Letitia James' office that concluded Cuomo had violated state sexual harassment laws and allegedly harassed multiple women, which led to his eventual resignation in August 2021.
Debra Katz, Bennett's attorney, referred to the lawsuit as being without merit and criticized the use of defamation cases to silence the victims of sexual harassment saying, "There is a long history of using defamation lawsuits to silence and punish accusers of sexual harassment. It is shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path," in a statement obtained by CBS News. Meanwhile, Cuomo stands firm on his stance, with his lawyers stating in the court notice, "Governor Cuomo did not make any sexual advances toward Bennett and did not sexually harass her."
Despite the dropping of her federal lawsuit, Bennett continues to pursue litigation against the State of New York, which was her employer at the time of the alleged incidents, while Bennett called Cuomo's legal actions "abusive" and expressed that "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," according to her statement cited by CBS News.
