[ad_1]
Two prominent LGBTQ leaders have come under increasing criticism over their inclusion in an investigative report released last week into sexual harassment allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group, is now the subject of an internal HRC investigation. Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer who successfully argued the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down the defense of marriage law, on Monday resigned as president of Time’s Up, a charity that supports victims of sexual harassment and assault.
David and Kaplan are accused of being involved in the governor’s office efforts to discredit its first accuser, Lindsey Boylan.
They were both involved in a draft letter / editorial written by Cuomo’s office in December 2020 that investigators described as “disparaging” Boylan, although it was never published, according to the report.
Some of the people who saw the letter described it as “victim humiliation”. David – who was the governor’s lead attorney from 2015 to 2019 but was chairman of the Human Rights Campaign, or HRC, at the time – said he didn’t think the letter was a good response and that ‘he wouldn’t sign it. The report alleges he agreed to circulate the letter to see if others would sign it, but denied the allegation in an emailed statement to NBC News.
Kaplan reportedly told the Cuomo administration that, “without the statements about Ms Boylan’s interactions with her male colleagues, the letter was good,” according to the report. She has been criticized by survivors of sexual assault and harassment since the report’s release on August 3, in part because of her role as co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which supports people who have been sexually harassed. and retaliation at work.
She resigned Monday as president of Time’s Up and wrote in a resignation letter first published by The New York Times and obtained by NBC News that she “could not offer the degree of transparency on the affairs of my company now demanded, as that would be contrary to my responsibilities as a lawyer. Kaplan represents Melissa DeRosa, who on Sunday resigned as secretary to the governor and who the report says has played a leading role in efforts to to discredit Boylan.
Kaplan and DeRosa did not respond to requests for further comment regarding the attorney general’s report. Kaplan told the Washington Post that she “made it clear that any response should never shame an accuser.”
Cuomo denied any wrongdoing in a video statement after the report was released and released his own report to “share the truth.” At a press conference Friday, Cuomo’s personal lawyer Rita Glavin called the investigation “one-sided” and said the governor was “an ambush,” although in an interview with MSNBC she said. said Cuomo “does not dispute some of the allegations.”
As for David, he maintained in a statement to NBC News that he was unaware of any allegations of sexual harassment against the governor during his tenure as chief counsel.
Civil rights activists and at least one elected official called on David to step down.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat running for reelection and the first openly gay person elected to a statewide post, wrote on Twitter last week that she would not accept no “campaign or support donations” from human rights. Campaign “until there is a new president of this organization”.
In a report Monday morning outing, HRC Board Chairman Morgan Cox and HRC Foundation Board Chair Jodie Patterson announced that the foundation will engage prominent outside law firm Sidley Austin LLP to investigate David’s actions, saying his inclusion in the investigation report “is of great concern.”
“We salute the courage of the many survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment who have come forward and give them our full support,” they said. “Over the past few days, HRC employees, supporters, board members and partners have raised questions about the relevance of Alphonso David’s actions and their alignment with HRC’s long-standing mission to strive for equality and justice for all.
They added that the boards of the HRC and the HRC Foundation take staff concerns seriously.
“The investigation will include whether Alphonso David’s actions are consistent with the mission and values of the HRC, as well as professional and ethical standards,” said Cox and Patterson. “This board-led investigation, which David is cooperating with, will take no more than 30 days and will help shed light on the events that have unfolded and guide the boards on necessary next steps. This investigation will in no way impede organizations’ pursuit of the essential work necessary to bring equity and liberation to the LGBTQ + community.
In an emailed statement to NBC News on Monday, David said he fully endorsed the board’s decision to conduct an independent review.
“This is an important effort to ensure the transparency that I have supported and engaged in with the board and staff since joining this organization,” said David, who became president. from HRC two years ago this month. “I appreciate the open dialogue we have and the support of so many people within our organization. “
Attorney General’s report alleges David provided a copy of documents on Boylan which the governor’s office later disclosed to the press, but David said he was required to provide those documents as the governor’s chief counsel. . He also denied the report’s claim that he agreed to circulate the letter about Boylan.
“Multiple inaccuracies have circulated and this final review is therefore important,” he said in the statement. “For example, I was not aware of any misconduct incidents involving the 11 survivors mentioned in the Attorney General’s report and in fact learned about these allegations while reading the report. I was asked to deliver an electronic copy of an advice note regarding a government employee after leaving the public service, which I was legally required to do for a former client. As the report makes clear, I was not involved in any public release of this memo (which was part of a larger physical file, held by the governor’s office). I was also asked to sign a letter about this same employee, which I refused to sign and never agreed to circulate. I did not sign their original letter or any of their other letters because it goes against my basic principles and the work to which I have dedicated my life. I have been and always will be an ally of the survivors around the world for whom we fight every day.
To pursue NBC output on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
[ad_2]
Source link