Background
State Entity Employee #1 is an anonymous employee of a State-affiliated entity who alleges that Cuomo touched her butt during a work event.
Case Summary & Interaction Details
On a Saturday in September 2019, SEE#1 attended a work event. Cuomo was there and held a speech. Then he took pictures with attendees. According to the report, he “grabbed” her arm and asked for a photo. SEE#1 posed for the photo with Cuomo along with her supervisor. Cuomo was standing between them.
SEE#1 claims, that while they posed for the photos, he “double tapped” with his hand where her butt and thigh meet. and than moved his fingers upward to grab the area between her butt and thigh.
However, the photos are missing from the evidence. According to the report, SEE#1 identified other photos from that day. The relevant photos are missing. Furthermore, the report omits the date and other information on the event.
Cuomo’s Attorney Glavin identified the event as the “Revive Mother Nature Event” at Pier 40 on September 14, 2019 based on record review and questions the investigators asked Cuomo during his testimony. According to her, 190 photos were taken as well as video recorded, none of it showing any inappropriate behavior, and none included in the report as evidence.
This event took place outdoors with a small group of people. Cuomo’s daughter is next to him. Below is the full video of the speech to better understand context and setting.
According to the AG’s report SEE#1 sent text messages to her siblings and mother after this event, and later on an email to herself to document the incident. However, the investigators omitted the text messages in the evidence. The email is included, and it deviates significantly from what is claimed in the report.
In her contemporaneous email SEE#1 states that she and her boss introduced themselves and he suggested to take a photo, not that he grabbed her.
Most importantly, she writes that he double tapped her, but no grabbing after the tapping is mentioned.
In her email, she writes the tapping happened when departing from taking the pictures. In the report, the claim is it happened “during the time in which their photographs were being taken”.
Conclusion
The report includes no evidence in the form of the relevant photos or photos and video that provide important context and could contradict the claim or question its credibility. It also omits the text messages mentioned. The email contradicts the report in several important aspects. The report excluded information needed to identify the event and understand the context (as seeing Cuomo’s daughter was present). In the light of this, we don’t believe the allegation as presented in the report nor that sexual harassment in form of a butt grab took place.