New York taxpayers will shell out nearly $500,000 to another accuser of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo after she settled her lawsuit against the state Friday — with her lawyers calling the deal “a complete vindication of her claims.”
Brittany Commisso — Cuomo’s executive assistant from 2019 through 2021 — penned an agreement with the state for $450,000, the same figure that fellow Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett settled her claims for in April.
Commisso will personally get $225,000, while her legal team will receive the other $225,000, settlement papers obtained by The Post reveal.
The divorced mom of one filed suit against the state and Cuomo in November 2023, claiming sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination.
She alleged that Cuomo subjected her to “humiliating and demeaning tasks, hugs, kisses, sexual touching of the buttocks and forcible touching of the breast.”
Commisso, who started working for the then-governor in 2017, claimed in her lawsuit that he once groped her inside the executive mansion.
The accusation led to a criminal case which was ultimately dropped by the Albany County district attorney in 2022.
She also said that as a result of reporting the alleged sexual assault, then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul demoted and reassigned her to answer phones, the suit states.
Commisso also allegedly lost overtime pay, was “given little or no work” and was ostracized from her co-workers, impacting her career. She claimed other state staffers aided and abetted her alleged mistreatment and demotion.
Her legal team hailed the settlement as “a complete vindication of her claims, just as the repeated findings made by the Attorney General, the State Assembly and the US Department of Justice were.”
“Those three independent investigations all found that Cuomo subjected Ms. Commisso to unwanted sexual harassment and groping when she worked for him as an assistant,” her lawyers, Mariann Wang and Kevin Mintzer, said in a statement.
“Ms. Commisso is proud to have reported the truth and vindicated her rights in court, and likewise glad to be able to move forward with her life.”
Attorneys for Cuomo, who has denied the allegations, ripped Commisso’s statement, saying the deal struck with the state was “not a vindication,” but “a capitulation to avoid the truth” — despite the ex-gov. signing onto the agreement, court papers show.
Still, Cuomo’s legal team claimed they opposed the suit ending before the “truth” could come out, while pointing out that the settlement amount was far less than the millions Commisso originally sought.
“This nuisance settlement, which expressly does not include any admission of liability, is intended to end Ms. Commisso’s failed efforts to leverage a meritless lawsuit into a multimillion dollar payday while hiding the truth from the public,” Cuomo’s lawyers, Rita Gavin and Theresa Trzaskoma, said in a statement.
The lawyers also noted the settlement didn’t come with any admission of wrongdoing by Cuomo, and highlighted the criminal case against him was dropped.
Gov. Hochul’s communications director, Anthony Hogrebe, said the state was “pleased to have settled this matter in a way that allows us to minimize further costs to taxpayers.”
Accuser Charlotte Bennett settled for the same amount in April, but only personally received $100,000 while the remainder went to her lawyers.
Bennett claimed Cuomo sexually harassed her when she was his assistant and then accused her of lying when she came forward with her claims.
Bennett, now 29, was the second woman after former gubernatorial aide Lindsey Boylan, to publicly accuse the thrice-elected Democrat of sexual harassment in 2021, prompting his resignation that year in the face of scandal.
Cuomo — who is attempting a political comeback by running for New York City mayor as an independent — has vehemently maintained his innocence in the rash of sexual harassment and assault accusations, including from a state trooper who claimed he inappropriately touched her. Her case is still pending.
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