An aide who worked for former governor Andrew Cuomo reached a settlement on Friday in a lawsuit against New York State. Charlotte Bennett will receive $450,000 to settle claims that the state did not take enough action to prevent Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment against her, $350,000 of which will be going to her attorneys to cover legal fees. “This settlement was mutually agreed upon by the parties and allows the state to minimize further cost to the taxpayers,” a spokesman for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. Cuomo’s defense has been largely subsidized by the state, costing tens of millions of dollars to date.
Andrew Cuomo resigned from the governorship in August 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment from multiple members of his staff that started in December 2020. Bennett, then 25 years old, had claimed that Cuomo had implied in a one-on-one meeting with her that she was “old enough for him and he was lonely.” She further claimed that she had witnessed a member of the governor’s staff complete a mandatory sexual harassment training in his place and had him sign the certificate afterwards.
Bennett had also sued the then-64-year-old Cuomo directly in federal court, but dropped her case last December in the face of what she claimed were intimidation tactics by Cuomo and his legal team. She cited discovery requests from his lawyers that she said at the time were “invasive,” including a request for medical records that were over ten years old. Cuomo’s attorneys called the case against him being dropped a “complete capitulation” by Bennett, and claimed to have discovered “mountains of exculpatory evidence” in their investigation.
In a statement announcing Friday’s settlement, Bennett’s lawyer Debra Katz, stated that “Ms Bennett is looking forward to moving on with her life,” and noted that investigations from the New York Attorney General Letitia James as well as the Department of Justice found merit to her claims. In a statement released on Friday, Cuomo’s mayoral campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi called James’ report “sensationalized and fraudulent,” and claimed that “today’s nuisance settlement proves it.”
The former governor is still facing sexual harassment lawsuits from two other women. Brittany Commisso, another former executive assistant to the governor, claims Cuomo groped her in his office. The second suit is from an unnamed state trooper that Cuomo allegedly lobbied to hire for his security detail despite her lack of experience, who claims that he made inappropriate comments, and also touched her stomach and back in a manner she found inappropriate.
