16 March 2022: New York Plugs Hole in Laws for Sexual Harassment by Elected Officials

https://www.wxxinews.org/capitol-bureau/2022-03-16/after-cuomo-hochul-signs-anti-sexual-harassment-laws

Influenced by the decision by five county prosecutors to not pursue criminal charges against Andrew M. Cuomo over what they described as "credible" allegations of sexual harassment, which revealed deficiencies in the laws for such misconduct by elected officials, New York's legislature has acted to pass a new law to plug those holes. This report covers replacement NY governor Kathy Hochul's signing of that legislation into state law. Here's an excerpt:

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of anti-sexual harassment bills into law today that, for the first time, hold New York’s elected officials more accountable for workplace misconduct.

Saying everyone has the right to a “safe, secure workplace,” Hochul closed a loophole that made state elected officials exempt from the consequences of sexual harassment, because they were not technically employed by the state or a municipality. The new law makes the state, town or city accountable for the actions of its elected officials.

“Let’s close the loophole once and for all,” Hochul said, adding, public employees in New York will now have “all the protections that are out there in the private sector.”

Another measure sets up a toll-free hotline, where professionals can respond to complaints of sexual harassment in any workplace in the state, and connect victims with experienced attorneys to assist them in pursuing their cases.

Hochul’s predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was never mentioned by name during the ceremony. But Cuomo’s resignation last August, after the state attorney general found he sexually harassed 11 women, paved the way for Hochul, then lieutenant governor, to become the first woman to serve as New York's governor. The new laws will apply to governors and everyone else in state government.

Cuomo still denies he did anything wrong.

It's safe to say that without Cuomo's alleged misconduct, which compelled his resignation in disgrace before he could be impeached, these new state laws would not exist.