The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said it has signed an agreement with the State of New York Executive Chamber to resolve the department’s claims that former Governor Andrew Cuomo engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The settlement said that Cuomo, "subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment; tolerated that environment and failed to correct the problem on an agency-wide basis and retaliated against employees who spoke out about the harassment."
“Executive Chamber employees deserve to work without fear of sexual harassment and harsh reprisal when they oppose that harassment,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The conduct in the Executive Chamber under the former governor, the state’s most powerful elected official, was especially egregious because of the stark power differential involved and the victims’ lack of avenues to report and redress harassment."
Since the department’s investigation began in August 2021, the Executive Chamber implemented changes to its policies and practices intended to prevent and address the alleged misconduct, according to a press release from the U.S. DOJ.
The agreement called for additional reforms, including expanding the Executive Chamber’s Human Resources Department; Creating new policies and procedures for the external reporting, investigation and resolution of complaints involving high-level Executive Chamber employees, including the Governor; Developing and implementing robust training and anti-retaliation programs and Creating mechanisms to assess the reforms’ effectiveness on a systemic basis.
