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The
woman, identified in court documents only as Trooper 1, says
that Cuomo touched her inappropriately on at least two occasions
and made repeated comments on her appearance.
"Given the threats and victim-shaming that Trooper 1 has faced
after she testified truthfully about being sexually harassed in
the workplace by the former governor, she has made the decision
to proceed with this lawsuit anonymously with the hope that she
can vindicate her legal rights and move on with her life,"
attorney Valdi Licul said in a written statement.
"We will not be deterred by the ex-Governor’s bullying tactics,"
Licul said. "He is only making his legal problems worse by
lashing out at his victim with false and defamatory statements
intended to further retaliate against her.”
A Democrat who ran New York for a decade, Cuomo resigned in
August after multiple women who worked for him accused him of
unwanted sexual advances and contact. He denied touching anyone
inappropriately and said his efforts to be a friendly boss may
have been misinterpreted as flirtation.
In January, the last county prosecutor investigating allegations
from one of several women said he had no legal basis to pursue a
case, meaning Cuomo would not face criminal charges related to
the sexual harassment claims that led to his resignation.
A spokesman for the 64-year-old former governor, Rich Azzopardi,
said on Twitter that the latest lawsuit was based on allegations
that prosecutors had already dismissed.
Azzopardi also said the law firm representing the trooper was
"widely known to use the press to extort settlements on behalf
of anonymous claimants."
The trooper accuses a longtime aide to Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa, of
helping cover up the governor's misdeeds.
A lawyer for DeRosa said on Twitter that the aide had had little
interaction with the trooper and called the lawsuit "beyond
frivolous."
The state police are also named in the lawsuit, which was posted
online by New York media.
(Reporting by Dan WhitcombEditing by Shri Navaratnam, Robert
Birsel)
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