Cuomo: Making someone ‘feel uncomfortable’ is not harassment
ALBANY — A defensive Gov. Andrew Cuomo came up with his own definition of sexual harassment on Thursday as he sparred with reporters and again flatly denied any wrongdoing.
The scandal-scarred governor, accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by multiple women, attempted to play devil’s advocate when asked how his initial apology for making anyone uncomfortable jives with state laws that clearly say his intent is irrelevant.
“Harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable. That is not harassment,” he said during an appearance in the Bronx. “If I just made you feel uncomfortable, that is not harassment. That is you feeling uncomfortable.”
Cuomo is facing an impeachment inquiry and an independent probe into his behavior being overseen by Attorney General Letitia James after nearly a dozen women, including several current and former staffers, have publicly accused him of making inappropriate comments and unwanted advances.
In early March, as calls for his resignation grew, the governor issued a qualified apology, saying he now understands that he “acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.”
Pressed about his recent full-throated denials, Cuomo presented an awkward hypothetical scene, insinuating that accusations of harassment are merely hesaid-she-said scenarios.
“You can leave this press conference today and say, ‘Oh, the governor harassed me,’” he said. “You can say that.
“I would say, ‘I never said anything I believed was inappropriate. I never meant to make you feel that way.’ You may hear it that way. You may interpret it that way, and I respect that. And I apologize to you, if I said something you think is offensive.”
However, the governor’s version of harassment doesn’t exactly square with the law in the Empire State.
Kevin Mintzer, a Manhattan attorney who has represented several women in high-profile sexual misconduct cases, said Cuomo’s comments have “nothing to do with the law.”
“It has to do with political communications and spin and, honestly, it’s deception,” he said. “And he’s well aware of it. Sexual harassment is not defined as whether or not the perpetrator intended to make someone uncomfortable.”
In 2019, Cuomo signed a law lowering the legal bar for harassment in New York, eliminating a “severe or pervasive” standard previously needed for it to be legally actionable.
A pamphlet available from the attorney general’s office clearly states that sexual harassment may be “verbal, visual and/or physical” and can include sexually offensive remarks or jokes, unwanted touching or groping or comments about a person’s gender or sexual preferences.
Former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett, the second woman to go public with her claims, says that the 63-year-old governor asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life and whether she had sex with older men.