Charlotte Bennett, one in all three girls who’ve accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment, claimed on Friday that Cuomo had a employees member fill in for him to take a sexual harassment prevention course that he himself had mandated for everybody.
Asked on Wednesday if he had accomplished coaching towards sexual harassment, Cuomo advised reporters: “The short answer is yes.”
But Bennett, 25, stated on “CBS Evening News” that in 2019 Cuomo “did not take the sexual harassment training.”
She advised anchor Norah O’Donnell, “I was there. I heard [the office director] say, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this for you’ and making a joke about the fact that she was completing the training for him. And then I heard her at the end ask him to sign the certificate” that the coaching had been accomplished, Bennett added.
Cuomo’s workplace director Stephanie Benton flatly denied Bennett’s declare. “This is not true,” she advised CBS.
Beth Garvey, particular counsel to the governor, stated that for government senior employees, “training takes the form of personal review of documentation.” The governor “did this review of the mandated material and completed the training,” she advised CBS.
Bennett is one in all two former Cuomo aides who’ve accused him of sexual harassment. The governor has stated his “playful” banter was misunderstood as “unwanted flirtation,” and he apologized for making girls “uncomfortable.” Cuomo additionally stated he is not going to resign over the accusations.
Bennett, who was an government assistant and well being coverage adviser within the Cuomo administration till November, has accused the governor of asking questions on her intercourse life, whether or not she was monogamous and if she had ever had intercourse with older males. Cuomo, 63, allegedly advised her he was open to relationships with women in their 20s, and that he was lonely.
After one significantly uncomfortable encounter, Bennett advised O’Donnell that she reported it to Cuomo’s chief of employees.
“I sat down and pretty quickly just said, ‘I love working here. I love you guys. But the governor crossed a line with me last week,’” Bennett recalled. “And she asked me what I was referring to. And I said, ‘He said he was lonely, he said he wanted a girlfriend. He asked me if I had slept with older men. He said he was willing to sleep with younger women.’ And at that point, that was enough for her. And she was just, like, ‘What can we do here?’”
Two days later, Bennett stated, she was transferred to a brand new job.
Lindsey Boylan, a former state financial improvement official, additionally alleged that the governor harassed her a number of instances from 2016 to 2018, and as soon as kissed her on the mouth with out her consent.
Asked by O’Donnell what Bennett thinks Cuomo ought to do now, she responded: “I think he should start telling the truth.” And if there’s an official discovering that he sexually harassed girls, he “should step down,” she added.
State Attorney General Letitia James is in command of an investigation into the accusations.
Check out the interview within the video clip up high. More of the CBS interview might be seen right here:
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