Governor Cuomo's Apology: A Legal Analysis

A breakdown of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's apology statement from the perspective of a California employment law attorney. Lessons for employers: (1) there is a legal duty to investigate all complaints; (2) the investigation must be done properly and impartially; (3) sexual harassment can take many forms - it is not just physical touching; (4) focus on the victim's perspective, not whether the alleged harasser intended the conduct; and (5) the employer must not jump to any conclusions prior to finalizing the investigation.

Follow me on other social media:

Anthony Zaller is an employment litigation attorney and founding partner of the firm, Zaller Law Group. Primarily focused on helping businesses and entrepreneurs navigate California’s complex employment and business laws, Anthony advises his clients through litigation, governmental agency investigations, and legal compliance issues. He has litigated wage and hour class actions for claims of unpaid wages, missed breaks, unpaid overtime, unreimbursed business expenses, and Private Attorney General Act ("PAGA") representative actions, among other issues. Anthony has also successfully litigated many single plaintiff employment cases including claims of wage and hour violations, breach of contract, wrongful termination, sexual and racial harassment, discrimination, unfair competition, and misappropriation of trade secrets and embezzlement.

Disclaimer: All information has been prepared for general information purposes only. The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, may not be current and is subject to change without notice. The information should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
No Attorney-Client Relationship or Legal Advice
Communication of information by, in, to or through this Web site and your receipt or use of it (1) is not provided in the course of and does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship, (2) is not intended as a solicitation, (3) is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice, and (4) is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. You should not act upon any such information without first seeking qualified professional counsel on your specific matter. The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon Web site communications or advertisements.

You also should not rely upon the transmission of any message to an attorney through this Web site to create an attorney-client relationship. The transmission or exchange of information will not do so. Without an attorney-client relationship in the matter, we cannot assure you that your communications will be privileged or (unless we otherwise agree in a specific case) that we will treat them as such. Please do not send us any confidential or sensitive information until you speak with one of our attorneys and obtain prior written authorization to send that information to us.