The investigation “found that the executive chamber under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo … subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment”
By Brendan J. Lyons, Times Union
ALBANY — The U.S. Justice Department on Friday announced it had reached an agreement with the New York governor’s office “to resolve the department’s claims that the executive chamber under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment and retaliation” in violation of civil rights laws.
The agreement memorializes reforms that were enacted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and also institutes additional reforms that federal prosecutors said are intended to prevent sexual harassment or retaliation in the executive chamber. The investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office had not been made public until the office announced the agreement on Friday.
But it’s unclear how thorough of an investigation the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn conducted or whether the outcome relied largely on the report issued by the state attorney general’s office in August 2021. That report concluded Cuomo had sexually harassed or acted inappropriately with 11 women. That report also found that Cuomo and some of his top aides had cultivated a toxic workplace.
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