Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo intends to file a defamation lawsuit against former aide Charlotte Bennett

Andrew Cuomo Responds and Gets Ready to File a Lawsuit Against Former Assistant Charlotte Bennett

Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, has declared his intention to sue Charlotte Bennett, a former staffer who accused him of sexual harassment, for defamation.

Bennett’s civil action against the State of New York is still pending, but she recently abandoned her federal complaint against Cuomo. Debra Katz, her lawyer, told the Albany Times-Union that a settlement with the state might be on the horizon.

Cuomo said in a court document that Bennett had defamed him in a statement she issued on December 9 in order to drop her federal lawsuit. Bennett claimed in the statement that Cuomo had “harassed me and my family” by utilizing his legal team. Cuomo’s attorneys refuted this charge, stating that the former governor intends to clear his name and stop Bennett from making what they called baseless claims of sexual harassment.

In 2021, Charlotte Bennett, a 23-year-old health policy assistant who began working in Cuomo’s office in 2019, came up with claims that the governor had acted inappropriately. She said that while she was working in Cuomo’s office, he kept asking intrusive questions about her sexual life and personal connections.

Bennett decided to abandon the federal action just before her deposition. Cuomo’s lawyer, Debra Katz, blasted Cuomo’s team for submitting a “astonishing number of invasive discovery requests,” requesting private medical data for everything from optometry to gynecological care. These requests were presented by Bennett’s legal team as an effort to scare her and refute her claims.

Bennett’s allegations were rejected by Cuomo’s lawyers, who said they were unfounded and part of a larger attempt to damage the former governor’s character. In a filing on Thursday, they said, “Cuomo fully intends to clear his name and ensure that Bennett and her agents never again repeat the falsehood that he sexually harassed Bennett.”

Bennett’s lawsuit against the State of New York is still pending, even though the federal complaint has been dismissed. A settlement with the state would make Cuomo’s defamation case much more complicated and pave the way for a fierce court battle.