Gov. Andrew Cuomo allegedly dismissed a past complaint of sexual harassment against a high-level member of his administration when choosing her for the job, according to a source.
Rossana Rosado, who got the gig as New York’s Secretary of State in 2016, was once accused of propositioning a male editor working for her when she helmed the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario.
Julio Malone claimed in a complaint to the city’s Commission on Human Rights that he was fired for rejecting Rosado’s advances, which included asking him to go to Fire Island with her and giving him a book with lipstick kiss mark on it.
A source claims the governor knew of the allegation, which was made in 2000 and later settled.
“I was told by someone in the administration that this had been flagged but that [Cuomo] waived it off,” said one plugged-in state legislator. “And he was right. Nobody knew.”
Team Cuomo denied that, with spokesman Rich Azzopardi saying his office had
“no record” or “knowledge” of the complaint and calling Rosado “a valued member of the team.”
Rosado denied the claim at the time and said Malone had been canned for “improper conduct” and taking too many days off.
“These purported allegations, from more than two decades ago, had no merit and have no bearing on the Secretary’s role today,” her spokesman said.