When asked on Wednesday if he had completed sexual harassment training, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, the “short answer is yes.” But Charlotte Bennett, one of the women accuse the governor of sexual harassment, said his office director completed training for him in 2019.
“In 2019, he did not attend sexual harassment training,” Bennett told “CBS Evening News,” anchor and editor Norah O’Donnell. ‘I was there. I’ve heard it [the office director] saying, “I can’t believe I’m doing this for you” and joking about the fact that she finished training for him. And then I heard her at the end ask him to sign the certificate. ”
Stephanie Benton, Cuomo’s office director, “categorically denies the exchange,” said a statement from the governor’s office adding, “this is not true.”
“Some state officials take an online course; for the Executive Chamber Senior Staff, the training takes the form of personal review of documentation,” Beth Garvey, special adviser to the governor, told CBS News. “The Governor has conducted this review of the mandated material and completed the training.”
In her interview with O’Donnell, Bennett also described what allegedly happened after she told Cuomo’s chief of staff that the governor some inappropriate commentsincluding asking her if her experience of sexual assault affected her sex life.
At that meeting, Bennett said, she told Cuomo’s top assistant that she no longer wanted to work directly for him.
‘I sat down and said quite quickly,’ I love working here. I love you. But the governor crossed a line with me last week, ”Bennett said. And she asked me what I was talking about. 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 with younger men. women to sleep. “And at the time that was enough for her. And she just said,” What can we do here? ” ‘
Two days later, Bennett says she has been transferred to a new job.
“It felt to me like if I got a new job, we didn’t have to investigate this. And I really didn’t want it to be investigated. I was terrified,” she said.
Bennett told CBS News she was happy with the deal. But after the meeting, Bennett texted her mother saying she felt, “Happy and relieved and sad … He shouldn’t have robbed this experience or path from me.”
Thanks to Charlotte Bennett
Then on June 30, Bennett said she had been called to another meeting – this time with the chief of staff and the governor’s general council.
“It was a long and thorough conversation,” said Bennett. “First they apologized. They said it was inappropriate. When I asked them if they could let it go, I said, ‘I don’t want this to be investigated. Please drop this’, you know, because I was scared , She said, “You came to us before anything serious happened. It was just grooming and it wasn’t considered sexual harassment yet. So we don’t need to investigate that.” ‘
Debra Katz, who represents Bennett in the independent New York State investigation into the allegations, said Cuomo’s staff were legally required to investigate the claims.
When she said, ‘I’m terrified, I don’t want you to investigate,’ they should have said, ‘We have a legal duty to investigate,’ Katz said.
In 2019, the governor signed a law change that made it easier to prove sexual harassment.
“The law he signed himself makes it clear that sexual harassment also involves creating circumstances that make someone feel uncomfortable for introducing them sexually,” Katz said.
In a new statement to CBS News, Cuomo’s special counsel said, “We continue to believe the matter was properly handled and look forward to working fully with the attorney general’s review.”
Bennett said she has “confidence” in the attorney general’s investigation and called on Cuomo to step down if the investigation’s findings support her claims.
“I think he should start telling the truth. I really have faith in this research, ”she said. “But if this investigation shows that he behaved like this, which he absolutely has because I have contemporaneous evidence, he should resign.”