New York lawmakers pass new anti-harassment laws inspired by Andrew Cuomo incidents

Democrats in New York passed a new pair of laws on Wednesday that expand the rights and abilities of public employees to report sexual misconduct without retaliation.

The previous laws had excluded the personal staff of state judges and politicians.

The first bill increased workplace protection for public employees when it comes to sexual misconduct allegations, and bans the release of their employment records in retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct.

The second bill creates a new hotline where public and private  employees can call to report workplace infractions like harassment without fear of retaliation.

New York Democrats initially created the bills after last year’s scandal involving former governor Andrew Cuomo, who was accused of sexually harassing 11 women who worked in the public sector with him. The first accuser, Lindsey Boylan, who was retaliated against by the former governor’s office by leaking internal documents to publicly undermine her accusations.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who is facing an upcoming primary election, spoke in support of the new laws this week. “We created a human resources department, a real one, so actual real complaints can be heard by real people, who will take action,” the Governor said.

“We actually have an outside law firm available for people to complain to, so there’s no sense that anybody within my administration can cover up or sweep something under the rug.”