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- The New York AG on Tuesday announced that an investigation has revealed that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple female staffers.
- Several staffers described Cuomo's office environment as abusive and toxic, according to the AG's report.
- "If you got yelled at in front of everyone, it wasn't any special day," former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett said.
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Several staffers for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo described their workplace as abusive and toxic, and said it harbored a culture rife with inappropriate flirtations and sexual comments, according to an independent investigation by the New York attorney general's office released on Tuesday.
Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former aide to Cuomo and one of 11 women who have accused him of sexual harassment, called the environment "extremely toxic" and "extremely abusive."
"If you got yelled at in front of everyone, it wasn't any special day," she said, per the report. "It was controlled largely by [the Governor's] temper, and he was surrounded by people who enabled his behavior, like surrounded by Yes Men."
When Cuomo would make inappropriate comments, Bennett added: "I was uncomfortable, but I also was acutely aware that I did not want him to get mad."
An unnamed executive assistant to Cuomo expressed a similar sentiment, saying the governor instilled fear in his staffers.
"I think that he definitely knew what he was doing and it was almost as if he would do these things and know that he could get away with it because of the fear that he knew we had," she said.
One staff member described the office atmosphere as "a mix between the West Wing and The Devil Wears Prada," saying that many senior employees have "big personalities" who are "comfortable using power" and maintain a "culture of fear and intimidation," the report said.
Another former employee said women who worked for Cuomo told him that the governor made them feel like "prey," holding eye contact for longer than needed and gazing at their bodies.
New York Attorney General Tish James announced in a news conference on Tuesday that independent investigators concluded Cuomo sexually harassed multiple female members of his staff, finding the women's claims to be "credible."
"We find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women," the investigators wrote in their 165-page report.
The report also found that the governor's office violated its own policies by not reporting sexual harrassment allegations. Cuomo's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, did not report Bennett's claim of sexual harrassment, according to the investigation.
"The policies were not followed with respect to the allegations of misconduct against the Governor until after our investigation began and public scrutiny was focused on allegations of sexual harassment against the Governor," per the report.
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