After Lindsey Boylan became the first of what is now 7 women to launch sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, people close to the governor attacked the credibility of the accuser.
A letter has circulated accusing Boylan’s allegations of being premeditated, politically motivated, and potentially tied to former President Donald Trump supporters; it also targeted her with revealing personnel complaints against her, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
“Once again, a victim of sexual harassment who has the courage to tell her story is put in the position of not only having to relive the trauma of a toxic work environment, but defend herself against the malicious leaking of supposed personnel files, character assassinations, and a whisper campaign of retaliation,” Boylan’s lawyer, Jill Basinger, told the Times.
“This page needs to be ripped out of the governor’s harassment handbook.”
There is a term for this now-commonplace response strategy, according to the National Women’s Law Center’s Emily Martin: DARVO, which is “deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender.”
The letter was designed to circulate and be signed among Cuomo aides, particularly women, and even Cuomo himself had a hand in crafting it, sources told the Times.
“Weaponizing a claim of sexual harassment for personal political gain or to achieve notoriety cannot be tolerated,” the never-released letter obtained by the Times read. “False claims demean the veracity of credible claims.”
At least two former officials – speaking on the condition of anonymity, potentially fearing reprisal – told the Times they refused to sign it.
“It is incredibly common for individuals who experience sexual harassment to also experience retaliation,” Martin, who runs the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, told the Times. “We’ve heard from thousands of individuals who are seeking help to address workplace harassment, and more than 70% of them say they have also experienced retaliation.”
Boylan, a Democrat who is running for Manhattan borough president, levied the allegations against Cuomo via Twitter on Dec. 13. The letter began circulating among staff before other accusers had come forward publicly with claims of harassment or even sexual misconduct against the governor.
After Boylan’s public reveal of her allegations in a blog post – including uncomfortable touching by Cuomo, who she says asked her to play “strip poker” – another staff accuser, Charlotte Bennett, came forward publicly with a complaint she had shared 6 months prior with 2 senior Cuomo administration officials.
Bennett said in an interview, she “understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me” and “felt horribly uncomfortable and scared.”
Now, there are at least 7 women who have publicly come out with allegations against the embattled Democrat governor.
Cuomo quickly denied Boylan’s Twitter allegations one day later, Dec. 14, saying, “I believe a woman has the right to come forward and express her opinion and express issues and concerns that she has, but it’s just not true.”
He has since apologized for situations where women have been “uncomfortable,” saying any harassment was “unintentional” and the kissing and touching were a part of his friendly greetings as a politician.
The letter, which the Times is not publishing to avoid publishing character attacks, pointed to Boylan text messages, suggesting a vendetta against the governor and claiming “political retribution.”
Also, per the Times, the letter claimed Boylan was “supported by lawyers and financial backers of Donald Trump: an active opponent of the governor.”
As for releasing personnel claims against Boylan, acting counsel to Cuomo Beth Garvey defended it, adding it was in response to media requests.
“It is within a government entity’s 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, Garvey said.
Legal experts argue sexual harassment can still occur for even a bad employee.
“There’s not a defense to harassment that the person was a bad employee,” San Francisco’s Legal Aid at Work senior attorney Elizabeth Kristen told the Times. “It’s not even relevant. Maybe she was the worst employee in the world, but she could still be harassed.”
Source: Newmax
