Another woman accuses Cuomo
She says the governor kissed her cheek without permission in 2017
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is facing new sexual harassment allegations from a Rochester-area woman who says the governor held her hand, grabbed her face and kissed her on the cheek twice without her permission while visiting her family’s residence following a flooding incident in 2017 in central New York.
Sherry Vill, 55, and her attorney Gloria
Allred detailed the allegations during a virtual news conference Monday. They also provided a photo — taken from a screen grab of a video shot by Vill’s son — that showed the governor kissing the married mother on the cheek outside her residence during the impromptu visit, when the governor had toured flood-damaged homes and businesses along Lake Ontario.
But the governor’s attorney responded that a public photo gallery posted of Cuomo’s visit to Monroe County that spring included his encounter with Vill as well as numerous other images of him kissing the cheeks or holding the hands of women. The
images also show the governor posing with his arm around a young boy and shaking hands with several men that he met on the tour.
“During times of crisis, the governor has frequently sought to comfort New Yorkers with hugs and kisses,” said Rita Glavin, an attorney for Cuomo. “As I have said before, the governor has greeted both men and women with hugs, a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand for the past 40 years.”
Still, Allred said the allegations make Vill the 10th woman to accuse Cuomo of “inappropriate sexual conduct.”
Vill and Allred said the unwanted advances by the governor were followed by a letter he sent to Vill personally — without mentioning her husband or children, who were also at the residence. An unidentified staff member of the governor also subsequently called Vill to invite her to attend an event with the governor, without mentioning her husband or family.
Allred said her client, who is a mother, grandmother and businesswoman, was “a victim of the governor’s unwelcome and unconsentedto physical contact with her.”
They are not planning to file a lawsuit or pursue criminal charges, Allred said. But the attorney, whose firm specializes in sexual harassment cases, said they planned later Monday to contact the state attorney general’s office, which is conducting an investigation of multiple sexual harassment and allegations of inappropriate conduct against Cuomo.
“For years, she wanted to report what Gov. Cuomo did to her, but some members of her family discouraged her from filing a complaint because they wanted to protect her and they feared that if she made what happened to her public that the governor might use his power to retaliate against her and her family,” Allred said. “For that reason, Sherry made the difficult decision to remain silent.”
The incident took place on May 28, 2017, Vill said, when the governor and his entourage were touring her family’s neighborhood in Greece, northwest of Rochester, which had been damaged by flooding from Lake Ontario.
Vill said she arrived home from work “to see all the commotion” and one of Cuomo’s staff members asked if they could come inside the couple’s lakefront home.
“I came in shortly afterward and when I walked in I said to the governor, ‘Do you think that we have to live like this?’” she recalled. “That’s when the governor looked at me, approached me, took my hand and pulled me to him. He leaned down over me and kissed my cheek. I was holding my small dog in my arm and I thought he was going to pet my dog, but instead he wedged his face between the dog and mine and kissed me on the other cheek, in what I felt was (a) highly sexual manner.”
Vill said the governor, who later kissed her again outside the residence, told her at the time that he is Italian and “that’s what Italians do, kiss both cheeks.”
“I felt shocked and didn’t understand what had just happened, but I knew I had felt embarrassed and weird about his kissing me,” she said. “I am Italian and in my family, family members kiss; strangers do not kiss, especially upon meeting someone for the first time.”
Two months after visiting Vill’s home, Allred said, she received the letter, which was signed by the governor. “It was a pleasure to meet you recently. Thank you very much again for your hospitality,” it read, adding that his administration would “continue to do all we can” to assist Vill and her neighbors against future flooding.
But Glavin noted that letter was a “nearly identical follow-up form letter sent to more than 30 people that the governor visited to support and assist following the Lake Ontario flooding, and those form letters were signed with an autopen.”
She said the governor’s decision to send Vill the letter and a signed photo of them standing in her residence as he held her hand is something he often does.
Also, “it is common for staffers to contact constituents after events and invite them to a future event on a related topic,” Glavin added.
After a multitude of similar allegations have been leveled recently against Cuomo by multiple women — including several current and former aides — Vill decided to “break her silence and overcome her fear,” Allred said. “Sherry decided that the people of New York deserve to know the truth and that Gov. Cuomo should be held accountable for what he has done.”
Multiple women have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, including a current aide who alleges Cuomo had groped her late last year at the Executive Mansion.
“I never touched anyone inappropriately,” Cuomo said earlier this month as the allegations of inappropriate conduct mounted. “I never made any inappropriate advances ... (and) no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable. Obviously, there are people who said after the fact they felt uncomfortable.”
The women’s allegations are being investigated by Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which has enlisted two private attorneys to conduct the probe: Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District in Manhattan, and Anne L. Clark, who specializes in labor law and sexual harassment cases.
The state Assembly also has launched an impeachment inquiry of the sexual harassment allegations, as well as of Cuomo’s handling of COVID -19 in nursing homes, the alleged cover-up of a potential structural defect on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, and the administration’s deployment of high-level state health department officials to perform coronavirus tests on the governor’s family and top associates.
Allred said they are planning to contact only the attorney general’s office and will not become involved in the Assembly’s inquiry.
Cuomo has rebuffed calls from dozens of fellow Democrats in the state Legislature and in Congress for him to resign immediately — or to step aside and allow Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to take over leadership of the state pending the outcome of the investigations.
“I won’t speculate about people’s possible motives. But I can tell you as a former attorney general who’s gone through this situation many times, there are often many motivations for making an allegation. And that is why you need to know the facts before you make a decision,” Cuomo said March 12. “People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth.”