NEW YORK (AP) – A second former assistant has come forward with sexual harassment allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who responded Saturday with a statement saying he had never made any claims against her and never intended to be inappropriate to be.
Charlotte Bennett, a health adviser in the Democratic governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever had sex with older men.
Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, a former Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Special Adviser to the Governor, recently accused Cuomo subjecting her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments. Cuomo denied the allegations.
Cuomo said in a statement Saturday that Bennett was a “hardworking and valued member of our team during COVID” and that “she has every right to speak up”.
He said he planned to become a mentor to Bennett, who is 25.
“I never made any progress towards Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in a way that was inappropriate,” Cuomo’s statement said. “The last thing I ever wanted was to make her feel the things being reported.”
However, Cuomo said he authorized an outside review of Bennett’s allegations.
The governor’s special counsel, Beth Garvey, said the review would be conducted by a former federal judge, Barbara Jones.
“I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making a judgment,” said Cuomo. “I will have no further comments until the review is completed.”
Bennett told the Times that her most disturbing interaction with Cuomo last June 5 was when she was alone with him in his Albany office. She said Cuomo started asking her about her personal life, her thoughts on romantic relationships, including whether age was a factor, and said he was open to relationships with women in their twenties.
Bennett said she also dodged a question from Cuomo about cuddling by saying she missed her parents’ cuddling. She said Cuomo never touched her.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and felt terribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the Times. “And wondered how I was going to get out and assumed it was the end of my job.”
Bennett said she notified Cuomo’s chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, of the interaction less than a week later. She said she was transferred to another job on the other side of the Capitol. In late June, she said she had also made a statement to Cuomo’s special counsel.
Garvey acknowledged that the complaint had been filed and that, as a result, Bennett had been transferred to a position in which she had already had an interest.
Bennett told the paper that she ultimately decided not to push for further action from the administration. She said she liked her new job and “wanted to move on.”
The charges at the time did not lead to any action against Cuomo.
Jones, who will oversee the investigation, was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, in 1995. As a judge, she struck down part of the Marriage Defense Act denying federal recognition of same-sex marriage. later confirmed by the US Supreme Court.
After retiring, she joined the law firm Bracewell LLP, where her work focuses on corporate compliance and investigations.
Her arbitration included a 2014 decision lifting Ray Rice’s suspension by the NFL for hitting his fiancé in an elevator during a videotaped assault.