Statement from Debra Katz and Charlotte Bennett on Continuing New York State Court Case
For Immediate Release:
Press Contact:
Alex Bradley
Bradley@katzbanks.com
(New York, N.Y) Today, attorney Debra S. Katz and Charlotte Bennett issued statements regarding news that Ms. Bennett has voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who sexually harassed Ms. Bennett, and the former governor’s top aides Melissa DeRosa, Jill DesRosiers, and Judith Mogul. Ms. Bennett’s case in State court against the State of New York, which was her employer, will proceed.
Statement from Debra S. Katz:
“Since Ms. Bennett filed suit in federal court in September 2022, former Governor Cuomo has used every opportunity to harass our client with an astonishing number of invasive discovery requests and outrageous statements in pleadings to embarrass and humiliate her. These include requests for medical records for unrelated specialists, including gynecologists, optometrists, and others, as well as medical records dating back more than ten years ago from when she was a minor. This fishing expedition was designed to dig up material to smear our client and distract from the fact that Mr. Cuomo did, as the New York Attorney General’s Office concluded after a lengthy investigation, sexually harass Ms. Bennett and at least 11 other women. It is also important not to lose sight of the fact that before engaging in his multi-year, multi-million dollar legal war against Ms. Bennett— funded by N.Y. State taxpayers— Mr. Cuomo apologized for his behavior. At a March 2021 press conference, he apologized for “making anyone feel uncomfortable” and for “whatever pain I caused anyone,”[1] and said, “I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”[2] His apologies were empty.
“From the beginning, this litigation has been about securing justice for Ms. Bennett. For years since she dared to come forward with allegations against Mr. Cuomo, Ms. Bennett has bravely withstood inflammatory and false assertions about her character and conduct and has been forced to fend off increasingly invasive document and deposition subpoenas sent to her parents, family, close friends, and even her college. Mr. Cuomo has used these legal proceedings to punish Ms. Bennett and others who reported his sexual harassment, and to cause more harm to her, all at the expense of New York taxpayers. On behalf of Ms. Bennett, and in support of all who have faced sexual harassment by powerful men like former Governor Cuomo, we will continue to seek justice in our action against the State of New York. We are currently engaged in settlement discussions with the State of New York and former Governor Cuomo, in his most recent letter to the federal court, has threatened to interfere with that process. In dismissing the federal case we thus hope that our client will be able to resolve this dispute and finally be made whole for all the damage Mr. Cuomo and his agents caused her.”
Statement from Charlotte Bennett:
“Former Governor Andrew Cuomo can no longer use this lawsuit to harass me and my family. His abusive filings and invasive subpoenas are meant to humiliate and retaliate against me and those who have supported me over the last five years of this living nightmare. Mr. Cuomo’s letter to the Court last week is yet another example of this and I have had enough.
“Throughout this extraordinarily painful two year case, I’ve many times believed that I’d be better off dead than endure more of his litigation abuse, which has caused extraordinary pain and expense to my family and friends. I desperately need to live my life. That’s the choice I am making today.”
Ms. Bennett is represented by Ms. Katz, Rachel Green, Sarah E. Nesbitt, and Suzanna Bobadilla of Katz Banks Kumin LLP and Laura Schnell and Herbert Eisenberg of Eisenberg & Schnell LLP in New York.
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[1] New York Governor Cuomo Coronavirus News Conference, C-Span (Mar. 3, 2021), available at https://www.c-span.org/video/?509520-1/york-governor-cuomo-coronavirus-news-conference.
[2] Full Text of Cuomo’s Statement in Response to Harassment Accusations, N.Y. Times (Feb. 28, 2021) (“I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/28/nyregion/full-text-cuomos-statement-harassment-accusations.html.