Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
- Andrew Cuomo's former executive assistant is suing him for sexual harassment.
- The former New York governor faces allegations of forcible touching and unwelcome sexual advances.
- Cuomo's attorney told Business Insider the lawsuit is a "cash grab" and the allegations are false.
A former executive assistant to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who accused him of groping her in late 2020, is suing the former governor under New York's Adult Survivors Act.
Brittany Commisso claims in court papers that Cuomo's "continuous sexual harassment" included "unwelcome sexual advances, sexualized comments about appearance and personal matters, relations, their dating, their sex life, and her marriage, assignment of humiliating and demeaning tasks, hugs, kisses, sexual touching of the buttocks, and forcible touching of the breast," according to a three-page summons filed Wednesday.
The document said Cuomo's behavior created a "pervasive hostile work environment," and that Commisso suffered "serious physical, emotional, and psychological pain, suffering and injuries" as a result.
Commisso's filing came just days before New York's Adult Survivors Act expired. The law provided a one-year window for adults to file civil lawsuits related to sexual abuse allegations that would otherwise have been past the statute of limitations. A number of high-profile men have been sued in New York under the ASA in recent days, including Mayor Eric Adams, actor Jamie Foxx, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs. All four men have denied the allegations against them.
Commisso, who worked in the governor's office between 2019 and 2021, had previously pursued criminal charges against Cuomo for the forcible touching allegations, but the case was dismissed in 2022 after prosecutors said they could not meet the burden of proof.
Cuomo has long denied Commisso's allegations, which were first made public in 2021. Cuomo's attorney, Rita Glavin, referenced the dropped criminal case in a statement provided to Business Insider.
"Ms. Commisso's claims are provably false, which is why the Albany District Attorney dismissed the case two years ago after a thorough investigation," Glavin said. "Ms. Commisso's transparent attempt at a cash grab will fail. We look forward to seeing her in court."
Cuomo resigned in August 2021, shortly after New York's attorney general, Letitia James, released a 165-page investigative report documenting allegations that he had sexually harassed 11 women — including members of his staff.
Despite concluding that Cuomo "violated multiple state and federal laws," James' report did not reach a conclusion on whether his conduct should be criminally prosecuted. And though prosecutors in Oswego, Albany, Westchester, and Nassau Counties opened criminal investigations into Cuomo's conduct, Commisso's allegation of forcible touching was the only one to result in a criminal charge against Cuomo.
The report, which referred to Commisso as "Executive Assistant #1," alleged that Cuomo once kissed her on the lips, had grabbed her buttocks during hugs multiple times, and once even reached under her blouse to grab her breast during a hug.
Commisso later revealed herself publicly as Executive Assistant #1 and told media outlets that she wanted Cuomo to be held accountable.
"What he did to me was a crime. He broke the law," Commisso said at the time.