Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is attempting to toss the bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit introduced by a state trooper on his element — claiming her claims have been a part of a conspiracy inside the state police drive to assault him whereas he was in workplace.
Cuomo lastly filed a proper response Monday to the Brooklyn federal court docket swimsuit introduced three years in the past by an nameless girl generally known as Trooper 1 — demanding that she pay again the $8.6 million in taxpayer-funded authorized charges used to this point for his protection.
“Trooper 1’s allegations in opposition to him are false and have been half and parcel of a plan to assault Governor Cuomo that Trooper 1 and different members of the NYSP deliberate, coordinated, and executed as a result of they have been disgruntled with Governor Cuomo for causes solely unrelated to any purported harassment or retaliation,” the submitting states.
Cuomo — who resigned in shame in 2021 and is now operating for New York Metropolis mayor — hasn’t paid a dime of his personal cash on authorized charges in any of the sprawling litigation related together with his administration, which the state comptroller’s workplace stories now exceeds $61 million.
However his submitting asks for him to be awarded “curiosity, legal professional’s charges, prices, and disbursements, as permitted by regulation or statute.”
Cuomo additionally asks the choose to dismiss the swimsuit “with prejudice,” that means that the claims couldn’t be refiled at a later date, whereas blasting the allegations as “wholly unreliable and false rumour.”
The court docket already tossed a retaliation declare from Trooper 1’s criticism, which was first filed in 2022, however her core accusations of sexual harassment stay.
The trooper stated Cuomo requested for her to be transferred to his element after the 2 met at a 2017 presser on the RFK bridge and he or she started working for him the next yr earlier than being moved to his journey group in 2019.
Her swimsuit claims that Cuomo touched her abdomen and again — and kissed her on the cheek — whereas she was on the job in 2019, amongst different undesirable conduct.
Trooper 1’s legal professional, Valdi Licul, fired again Tuesday, citing a number of investigations carried out by unbiased companies that discovered “overwhelming proof” Cuomo engaged in sexual harassment, and ridiculed his request for payback.
“That arduous-working taxpayers have needed to pay thousands and thousands of {dollars} – and counting – to fund Cuomo’s protection and his continued assaults on his victims is astounding,” Licul instructed The Publish.
“His request for charges is patently frivolous, not solely as a result of each unbiased investigation has discovered that he violated the regulation, but in addition as a result of it seems that he hasn’t really paid any charges.”
Cuomo’s legal professional, authorized celebrity Rita Glavin, blamed the three-year delay in submitting the ex-gov’s pleadings — in addition to the hefty tab for authorized bills — on the nameless accuser,
Glavin claimed the plaintiff “copied and pasted” findings from the report carried out by state Legal professional Basic Letitia James’ workplace into sexual harassment allegations in opposition to Cuomo “into her criticism,” and refused to restrict her authorized motion to her personal accusations.
“We repeatedly requested Trooper 1 to drop these ladies from her swimsuit to keep away from this expensive and pointless litigation, however she refused,” Glavin stated. “Because of this, protection prices ballooned and nonparty witnesses have been roped into the case. All of those choices have been outdoors of Governor Cuomo’s management. Trooper 1 may cease this at any second by limiting her case to her personal allegations, however she received’t.”
Attorneys for Cuomo are arguing for an expanded order of discovery that might embrace dozens and dozens of depositions from individuals named within the AG’s report, which discovered that the thrice-elected Democrat had sexually harassed a number of present and former state workers.
Cuomo, who stated on the time that he “by no means touched anybody inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances,” resigned two weeks later.
A spokesperson for James stated Tuesday that the AG’s workplace stands behind its investigation, including that “the previous Governor bears duty for his personal actions, full cease.”
Taxpayers have shelled out over $61 million in authorized charges stemming from Cuomo’s varied scandals as of April 21.
These Cuomo controversies, which have additionally ensnared a number of state companies, run the gamut from sexual misconduct accusations, impeachment proceedings, his COVID-19 pandemic response — and his largely condemned, $5 million e-book deal for a memoir he penned as 1000’s of New Yorkers have been succumbing to the virus day by day.
Supply hyperlink