Photo via @LindseyBoylan/Twitter, Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
February 24, 2021, 2:14 pm
The former Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Special Advisor to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Lindsey Boylan, has published an essay on Medium detailing the hostile working environment she endured before resigning in 2018.
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Boylan details a minefield of sexual harassment that started soon after she first met the governor, including images of emails and text conversations complaining about his behavior to friends and family.
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“Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” she writes.
This is not the first time Cuomo has faced accusations of toxic behavior and workplace abuse. On Saturday, State Assemblyman Ron Kim accused the governor of abuse of power and abuse of his wife, who he said was left in tears by a vicious call from Cuomo.
According to Kim, after accusing the governor of obstruction of justice over the debacle that was his response to New York nursing home deaths from COVID-19, he got a direct call from Cuomo, who proceeded to yell at him.
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“[The phone call] left my wife in tears for two hours, it had left an indelible mark on my family,” Kim said to Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “It was a direct threat if I did not issue a statement that he can use to cover up for his top aide. He, at one point…did say, ‘Who do you think you are?'”
Boylan’s experience was perhaps more subtle but no less distressing. The former aide describes how she “came to work nauseous every day” after her boss told her that Cuomo had a “crush” on Boylan and compared her to an ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, Cuomo had already cultivated a work environment in which his staffers, out of fear or loyalty, would not tolerate anyone speaking up about this behavior.
“My relationship with his senior team—mostly women—grew hostile after I started speaking up for myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top aides, but I could no longer ignore it.”
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She also provides an account in which Cuomo unexpectedly kissed her on the lips without her consent, which is legally considered sexual assault. Stunned and afraid people would think she only got to her position because of the governor’s “crush,” she kept the incident to herself until December 2020, when she began telling her truth on Twitter.
Cuomo denied the allegations, but Boylan says more women opened up to her about his sexual harassment after she posted her thread.
“One described how she lived in constant fear, scared of what would happen to her if she rejected the Governor’s advances,” she wrote. “The other said she was instructed by the Governor to warn staff members who upset him that their jobs could be at risk. Both told me they are too afraid to speak out.”
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Cuomo has not yet issued a public comment on these latest allegations.
*First Published: February 24, 2021, 2:14 pm
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