Cuomo's First Accuser Raises New Claims of Harassment and Retaliation
Source: New YORKER
In the car, she began tweeting allegations that Cuomo had sexually harassed her, too. @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched, she wrote. She referenced harassment about her looks and described an unpredictable and intimidating workplace experience. Her husband became aware of the tweets only as the reaction began to build online. I felt like I was just exploded, Boylan recalled. And he felt like he was having a heart attack.
As Boylans disclosures began to draw notice on social media, a group of current and former Cuomo staffers who served as his informal crisis-communications brain trust moved to squash them in real time, according to one person with direct knowledge of the effort. Members of that group included Melissa DeRosa, a senior aide; Rich Azzopardi, Cuomos spokesperson; and Steven M. Cohen, a former secretary to the Governor. They circulated Boylans tweets and held a series of urgent calls. The group had just emerged from a frantic effort to respond to allegations that Cuomos office had deliberately undercounted covid-related deaths in New York nursing homes. They were putting that to bed, and then she pipes up. And then its sort of a big scramble, the person with direct knowledge of the effort told me. It was, like, what the hell do we do about this? Cuomos advisers arrived at a plan to leak Boylans personnel records, which included allegations that Boylan had bullied colleagues, some of them women of color. The decision was made collectively, the person with direct knowledge of the effort said. That these are facts, the reporters should see them.
An intermediary who says that he was not on the calls, Rich Bamberger, a former communications director for Cuomo who now works for the public-relations firm Kivvit, called several reporters and advised them to contact the Governors office. According to the person with knowledge of the conversations, Azzopardi then sent Boylans personnel files to reporters. By days end, several of the complaints about Boylan had appeared in stories, by the Associated Press, the New York Post, and the Albany-based Times Union. Boylan recalled being stunned by the articles. I couldnt move. I couldnt breathe, she said. In the ensuing days, Cuomo aides began contacting people who had worked under Boylanwhich some of the recipients found intimidating, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Cuomo advisers also considered releasing a letter attacking Boylans credibility and reputation, drafts of which were first reported by the Times this week. They ultimately decided against releasing the letter. My life was, you know, for a period, destroyed, Boylan told me. In a statement, Beth Garvey, Cuomos acting counsel, said, With certain limited exceptions, as a general matter, it is within a government entitys discretion to share redacted employment records, including in instances when members of the media ask for such public information and when it is for the purpose of correcting inaccurate or misleading statements.
Boylans allegations largely faded from public view, until last month, when she posted a detailed account of her experience on Medium. Boylan told me, during a series of lengthy interviews, that she decided to disclose her allegations via online posts and initially declined interview requests from journalists because having someone dissect my trauma is not something I wanted. She said that the essay took her more than a month to write. I realized I had to own this experience, she told me. It was something I was going to have to talk about eventually. A series of disclosures about Cuomo from other women, including multiple allegations of harassment and one of groping, quickly followed Boylans. Seeing Lindseys story was a huge factor in my decision to come forward, Charlotte Bennett, a former Cuomo staffer who began publicly discussing her account of sexual harassment by the Governor after Boylans Medium post, told me. Coming forward didnt feel like a choiceit felt like my responsibility to validate Lindseys story and signal to others that it was O.K. to come forward.
Read more: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/cuomos-first-accuser-raises-new-claims-of-harassment-and-retaliation
Indykatie
(3,696 posts)Or everyday another woman comes forward with yet another accusation. I still hope Cuomo holds out for investigation so we don't add to a precedent of a politician (even an unpopular one) being driven from office without the benefit of an investigation. I know from an experience in my own family women do lie and use sexual accusations as a weapon to hurt or punish a man.
brooklynite
(94,571 posts)Budi
(15,325 posts)....like the telephone game.
Why would Boylan's Atty advise her not to testify under oath, following her 4 hr meeting with investigators.
What happened?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)And you obviously didn't read her allegations, because then you'd know she said he kissed her, which would clearly be sexual harassment.
George II
(67,782 posts)Response to pnwmom (Reply #14)
JI7 This message was self-deleted by its author.
caber09
(666 posts)She had been tweeting this info and expressing herself to writers but her husband didn't have a clue about any of this?
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)its because she doesn't really want the truth to come out, the truth why she was fired. What makes this any different that the TR case its following the same pattern. Boylan need to raise her profile in her campaign, why not use the 800 hundred pound gorilla. She used the same claims that were brushed aside in her Congressional race. What changed??????????????????????????????????????????
Response to brooklynite (Reply #2)
Post removed
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)And we know she was lying. Boylan is making a super Pac to get rid of Schumer and Gillibrand -wouldn't trust any of them. I feel that there needs to be changes in the moment ...not years later when it will undoubtedly end up being impossible to prove or disprove. And we simply can't allow this sort of thing to work or none of our leaders will be safe.
George II
(67,782 posts)...(I forget the actual sequence) Both went away once holes got poked in each of them.
Like the claims against Cuomo, there are common threads connecting some of Biden's accusers to "outsiders".
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)Response to brooklynite (Reply #2)
ahoysrcsm This message was self-deleted by its author.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Budi
(15,325 posts)Why won't Boylan's atty let her testify under oath?
She sure has a lot to say to everyone else!
JI7
(89,249 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)caber09
(666 posts)No reason for her not to testify or cooperate
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)[link:https://gothamist.com/news/whos-running-manhattan-borough-president|]
Fine to make claims but when your not willing to testify under oath? What's she and her attorney afraid of?
Nixie
(16,954 posts)Who has Cuomo drugged and raped? Theres also the Hollywood angle to both of them-put out or you dont get the part that will make you a rich movie star. Its a lot different than some alleged office banter.
This kind of morphing is a real turnoff and it does no good for real victims.
tulipsandroses
(5,124 posts)Fish rots from the head.
People take their cues from leadership. President Obama ran a tight ship - he lead by example. Employees acted accordingly
then you have trump - unruly, chaotic, corrupt - his staff acted accordingly
Not the first time I'm hearing of bad behavior coming from Cuomo's staff. And not just heard, there are text messages of his staff being acting a fool and cursing at an official. Where does that come from? Where are they taking their cues from?
Their first instinct was not to deny the claims, it was to destroy this woman's reputation. Why?
Budi
(15,325 posts)If she can say it to the Maggie Haberman at NY Times, New Yorker, Media outlets, & social media political sights & her new fundraising PAC, She certainly must be telling the same truth as she'd tell under oath, right?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)its a public record, she was a public employee and certain info was redacted. It's not private information. You call it a leak they call it a rebuttal. What did she expect?
[link:https://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/drawtheline.html|]
Nixie
(16,954 posts)work environment. An opportunist with political aspirations. Who else do we know like this? Interesting.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)The part that was leaked had to be leaked -- and not just officially passed to reporters -- because it was private.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)and there was a hearing it becomes public information.
Nixie
(16,954 posts)bullying? Or are only some women to be believed, especially if they fit political goals of getting Cuomo out of the way.
Its also interesting she indicates she timed her allegations to pile on after Cuomos office appeared to be handling the nursing home accusations.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Budi
(15,325 posts)That alone should be a call for a lawsuit against her.
Defamation. Sit her under oath & repeat the story she's been telling everywhere.
Odd that the same group pushing Tara Reade is pushing this one.
Oh yes, and also FOX & OAN, Russia's propaganda disinfo machine.
Who benefits for RU?
Donald Trump
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)who did NOT support Tara Reade's lies.
Budi
(15,325 posts)Gillibrand has chosen to stay quiet on this one.
VP Harris as well.
Odd that BOTH have now become a target of harassment & election threats for staying out of this mine field, from the same group ( ⚘ ) who shoved Tara Read out to the media to weaken candidate Biden.
Turns out it was a wise choice as Boylen & Bennet's own Attys are advising them to NOT testify under oath.
There's only one reason an Atty would advise like that.
Perjury.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Budi
(15,325 posts)She's lying
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)yeah, right.
Budi
(15,325 posts)Makes it suspicious that atty's advise against the 1st two ever telling those stories under oath.
For a well coordinated sexual assault campaign against the NY Gov, they are off to a rather suspicious start.
Makes it appear coordinated, stories with no provability, Boylen jumps out with a PAC within a week of her story, now refuses to tell the same story she shopped to the media, ..under oath.
Bennett's 'damning' party pic isn't selling like the assault she expected it to, & now ALSO won't tell the truth under oath..
Kinda blows the credibility for the whole obviously coordinated effort of the rest.
It is a political maneuver we've seen & rightly called bs on before. TARA READE.
Ya can only 'Cry Wolf' so many times before it becomes an 'eyeroll'.
Testify under oath.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)But that's not true. If other women have experienced the same thing, and patterns are clear, a hostile workplace can be established.
Nixie
(16,954 posts)who support the narrative of piling on Cuomo.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)And judged in light of sexual harassment laws. The whole country should have learned this lesson during the Anita Hill hearings.
Did Clarence Thomas rape Anita Hill? Did he threaten her? No, he created a hostile work environment, with the things he said to her.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)By high-up Cuomo operatives. (A similar story appeared in the New York Times yesterday).
And what are most in this thread doing with it? Smearing the women. I was gonna say a lot of stuff, but I cant even. Disgusted, but not surprised.
Budi
(15,325 posts)Smear smear smear~
So was Tara Reade.
She smeared it all over Putin's propaganda TV show, OAN . She even sat there on OAN & did interviews!!
SMEAR is correct.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)Is your passionate defense about? Arent we supposed to await the outcome of an investigation? Of course, powerful rich men always get the benefit of the doubt in such investigations.
I think you should watch Promising Young Woman right away. Great thriller, and funny too. And really scary.
Budi
(15,325 posts)There's a message for the ages in that story.
Response to Budi (Reply #72)
Post removed
PortTack
(32,767 posts)WHITT
(2,868 posts)has yet to explain how Cuomo asked her to play strip poker on a plane when, not only was it impossible for them to be sitting next to one another, but it was impossible for them to be sitting anywhere even near one another.
Is she claiming he stood up and yelled it down the aisle from the other end of the plane?
Do these people think we're as gullible and stupid as their supporters?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)caber09
(666 posts)She was going to expand on that story...when..maybe her next essay or article in two weeks or when she deems time to release...oh wait logs said she was never on a plane with just other three people...so onto..the next thing she remembers...when she loses the Manhattan boro Pres race what will she run for next...what will she reveal during that campaign?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)who would you remember?
Budi
(15,325 posts)IT NEVER HAPPENED.
They were all there in a close area.
Someone's not telling the truth.
And refuses to say it under oath, as advised by her Atty. After taliking for 3-4 hrs to investigators.
Why? What happened in the interview that made her own top-line Atty advise Against Saying Her Story Under Oath?
Its bs. That why.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)part of the background noise, if you didn't happen to be the target.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)The Gov. is using the new (used) one the State Police purchased so its also used as an emergency aircraft, Sikorsky S-76 I would image its civilian 10 passenger configuration is reduced due to rescue equipment. When its available he can use it.
[link:|]
Polybius
(15,413 posts)Like in his hotel.
George II
(67,782 posts)Plus she said it was a "tax-paid jet", except that NYS doesn't own any jets, just turboprops.
kaotikross
(246 posts)They did it to Franken while we sat through four years of top level douchery from Donald Dump. Levy a fine against Cuomo, make him take harassment classes, whatever, but dems need to stop ditching otherwise competent people. Nobody is perfect, men can be dumb. Nobody was fondled or raped. Remember Tara Reid? This is just more GOP smear tactics.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Ill get flamed for this but (as a a woman) I feel we empower women by encouraging them to call out harassment at the time it happens. Stand up and loudly proclaim Stop. You are making me feel uncomfortable.
This reporting it years down the line (while understandable) does nothing to make it stop at the source.
eilen
(4,950 posts)There is an actual procedure for reporting sexual harassment in NY State like any organization. What it provides is an official paper trail. There is no reason to remain exposed to hostile work environment. But if she thinks reporting it to Twitter would be more helpful (well, of course she was not working there anymore...) Personally, I think it was more about wanting publicity while engaged in a political contest in NY.
I have no doubt that Cuomo's office is very tough to work in. He is a self-described control freak and there are many accounts of how he is aggressive when he perceives a threat to reaching his goals whether it was getting his father elected, getting funding on HUD projects, getting a bridge built or obtaining ventilators for NYC in a pandemic. It is a high pressure culture and environment. However I also believe that no place beats the White House during the Trump years for title of Most Toxic Workplace.
bucolic_frolic
(43,161 posts)It will be as close as they'll ever get to the truth. I question whether memories are always accurate. Do you have items from childhood that you haven't seen in 40 years? When I retrieve them I find the items don't quite match my memories. Displeasure and anger can distort or embellish memories. I'm not saying nothing happened there, but that a ratcheting up process is underway. Suppressed resentment rebounds more strongly. The pattern of several accusers is perhaps the biggest evidence. That's how investigators will tease out their findings. I suspect one or two are overstating the case. Let the professionals do their job.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)take a leave without pay, so he won't be unduly influencing the testimony of people who are still working for him.
Beastly Boy
(9,345 posts)That would be the first step in the process.
I am not familiar with the EEOC guideline you are referring to (perhaps you can link me to it), but here are some guidelines that are required for EEOC to investigate:
1. Someone Files a Charge
The process begins when someone files a charge with the EEOC or, for state claims, with the appropriate state agency such as the Department of Fair Housing and Employment in California.
If a victim comes to you with allegations of discrimination, investigate properly so it doesnt have to escalate. Use our EEO Investigation Checklist for guidance.
Charges generally must be made within 180 days of the last discriminatory act and do not need to be filed by the direct victim. Charges require three pieces of information:
A summary of the incident(s)
Details about the employer
The date of the last violation
A charge may be assigned priority if the preliminary facts indicate a violation occurred. On the contrary, a charge may be dismissed at any point in time if the EEOC concludes the incident did not violate the law.
This is the first step. Without it, EEOC guidelines lack context. The last stage of an EEOC investifgation is to make a determination. I don't see how, or why, anyone would apply any of the EEOC guidelines to any case prior to its completion of this last stage.
Beastly Boy
(9,345 posts)But I am beginning to suspect that the discussions on this matter, regardless of the validity of the accusations in question, are becoming more of an effort to get Cuomo out of the governor's office rather than pursuing ju8stice for the accusers. Using the accusers to this end is just as disrespectful to them, if not more so, as what Cuomo may have done to them.
This is becoming more about exacting revenge than seeking justice, and blatantly using the accusers to that end.
George II
(67,782 posts)Beastly Boy
(9,345 posts)It has been well established at this point that accusations of misconduct against Cuomo exist. This is not news. No sense beating a dead horse. I would rather hear of news on the investigation front. Oddly, nobody is reporting it. Perhaps there is nothing to report other than hype.
George II
(67,782 posts)Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)the penalty for perjury most likely. Fairfax's accuser in Virginia pulled the same thing and first accuser won't testify under oath either and she was fired from what I hear. And she lost her House race...trying to win an election IMHO using the Me TOO movement which really pissed me off.
George II
(67,782 posts)It's getting to the point where some truly valid complaints are looked at with doubt.
Demsrule86
(68,576 posts)after the attack, I despise women who pile on or equate a kiss on a cheek at a wedding with sexual assault. They make it harder for women like me to get justice. The man who attacked me was not brought to trial...I was at a bar you see so I was 'asking' for it. A few years later he was imprisoned for later attacks which would not have happened had he been sent to prison for assaulting me.
jeffreyi
(1,943 posts)Nope.
joetheman
(1,450 posts)the flirtations went no further than comments or a conversation. Same thing among co-workers. Women seemed to know how to handle unwanted advances and most men checked themselves after the first rebuke or "no" In fact, many long-term relationships and marriages began in the workplace. My former boss (20 years ago) was an equal opportunity flirt but never "harassed" anyone. He just seemed to be able to make the all the women feel positive about themselves. I guess those days are over Glad I don't have to try to find a wife these days. I would be scared to make a pass.
George II
(67,782 posts)....and belittling other people in Cuomo's administration:
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)The accusers have a right to be heard.
But Cuomo has rights, too. Let the investigation proceed and draw to conclusion.
If Democrats insist that every male candidate for public office has absolutely no skeletons in his closet, for a certain age bracket AT LEAST, there wont be any candidates. And that goes well beyond just the old guys. There are different social norms in different generations AND in different geographical areas. Does that make harassment appropriate? No! But what if the accused is doing something that was quite normal and ordinary at the time it happened? Do we go back decades and despise these men?
Lets just let the investigation proceed and see what the end result is. Then, if appropriate, action can and should be taken.
Preparing for the insults now...
brooklynite
(94,571 posts)We should give some measure of dispensation to people of "a certain age bracket"? Seriously? What age bracket would that be? Cuomo is 63. I'm 61. I've worked with women, worked FOR women and had women work for me. I've never acted inappropriately with them or in their presence and every employer I've had would consider such behavior grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Times change. Social norms evolve. What was deemed appropriate in one era may not be in another. You want to go back to the sixties and hold every man accountable who did not allow his wife to have her own financial accounts? Thats going to be a tall order then.
Lets get one thing straight. Democrats are made up of people of many mindsets and none of us have to confirm to the opinions of some who think they have a monopoly on what a Democrat should be. Im tired of people condemning ANYONE before a proper investigation is had and is complete. THAT was made perfectly clear in my post. I fully expected to be pounced on for my view (as was also indicated in my post) and you did not disappoint.
Weve lost too many talented Democratic candidates in the drive to have perfection. Cuomo deserves to have his side heard as do his accusers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having that. Condemning him BEFORE that has happened is not what a Democrat should want and its unAmerican.
Ill not engage further with someone who cant discuss without insult.
brooklynite
(94,571 posts)My opinions are criticized endlessly and I dont try to claim Im being insulted.
As for you follow up comments, were not talking about Cuomos. Eva Kirin the 60s. Were talking about events that happened in the past few years. No excuse applies in my opinion no matter how well theyve done on COVID policy.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Ive read many posts on the Cuomo subject and in MY opinion it feels like most are condemning him without giving him the chance to present his side - which he can/will do in a legitimate investigation. I want to hear BOTH sides. I want facts.
There is no need to condemn him or ask him to resign before the investigation is complete. Its not like hes going to leave the country to evade an investigation, do you think? Hes the one who asked for this to be investigated.
If that bothers someone, then thats their issue to deal with. Hes said he wont resign and I have no reason not to believe him. So, I guess some here will just have to continue to be worked up over this subject until something changes. More accusers either coming forward or not coming forward will not change my desire for there to be an investigation.
I hope youre okay with that, but if youre not, youre in a tough spot because hes not leaving office.
Gruff B. Gus
(22 posts)Which is not all that well as it turns out.