Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being sued for sexual harassment by a state trooper. The lawsuit comes after a series of legal wins for the disgraced politician.
The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and says Cuomo asked the unidentified trooper personal questions while she was on duty in 2009, kissed her on the cheek, and “placed the palm of his hand on her belly button and slid it across her waist to her right hip” while she was on duty.
The Washington Examiner reports:
Cuomo touched the trooper inappropriately, in one instance “plac[ing] a finger on Trooper 1’s neck and [running] it slowly down her spine to the middle of her back,” the filing alleges.
“Trooper 1 felt violated as the Governor intentionally touched her in intimate locations between her breasts and vagina,” the lawsuit says.
The filing also named Melissa DeRosa, a former Cuomo aide, as a defendant.
“On May 19, 2021, Trooper 1 engaged in protected activity when she testified in an official investigation of the Governor’s sexual harassment of her and other women … On or around November 12, 2021, DeRosa retaliated against Trooper 1 by falsely accusing Trooper 1 of ‘extortion’ and threatening legal action,” the lawsuit says, accusing her of pressuring news outlets not to cover the allegations against the then governor in late 2020.
Valdi Licul, partner at Wigdor LLP and counsel for the trooper, said the team would not be “deterred” by Cuomo’s “bullying tactics,” adding the former governor “is only making his legal problems worse by lashing out at his victim with false and defamatory statements intended to further retaliate against her.”
Cuomo spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi slammed the filing.
“Gov. Cuomo will fight every attempt at cheap cash extortions and is anxious to have the dirty politics stop — we look forward to justice in a court of law.”