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Time's Up co-director resigns over letter related to Cuomo

2021-08-10T02:08:49.289Z


Roberta Kaplan resigned from the women's rights organization after it was learned that she reviewed a letter against one of Andrew Cuomo's accusers.


Brittany Commisso details harassment complaint against Cuomo 4:55

(CNN) -

Time's Up's board of directors co-chair Roberta Kaplan resigned from her position at the women's rights organization after it emerged that she reviewed a draft letter questioning the character of Lindsey Boylan, one of the accusers of Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York.

"We hold ourselves accountable. The events of the last week have made it clear that our process must be evaluated and we intend to do so," the organization said in a statement Monday morning.

"Robbie Kaplan, co-chair of the board of directors, has stepped down. We and she both agree that it is the right thing to do and appropriate," they noted.

CNN reached out to Kaplan for comment.

Kaplan, a prominent progressive attorney who represented the plaintiff in the 2013 United States Supreme Court case that struck down a federal law that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, has been a key figure in Time's Up ever since. founded out of a national recognition of sexual harassment and mistreatment of women in the workplace.

She was a co-founder of the organization's legal defense fund.

Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James referred to her in a report detailing 11 women's allegations of sexual harassment at the hands of Cuomo, who has denied any wrongdoing.

  • The Key Findings of Governor Andrew Cuomo's Sexual Harassment Report and What's Next

According to the report, Cuomo and a group of advisers worked on a letter earlier this year in response to Boylan's allegations.

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At Cuomo's direction, her top adviser, Melissa DeRosa, sent the letter to Kaplan for review.

The report says DeRosa, at the time, was seeking to discredit Boylan by allegedly leaking personnel records and participating in an effort to question Boylan's character.

The letter was never made public.

"According to Ms DeRosa, Ms Kaplan read the letter to the head of the advocacy group Times Up, and both allegedly suggested that, without statements about Ms Boylan's interactions with male colleagues, the letter was fine," says the report of the Prosecutor's Office.

DeRosa, who resigned late on Sunday, has not publicly responded to the prosecution's report or any of the allegations about his role.

Monday's release from Time's Up does not directly address any of the findings of the attorney general's report, although it says, "We hold ourselves accountable."

  • Cuomo says he's "really sorry" for comments he says were "misconstrued as unwanted flirting" following allegations of sexual harassment

"The events of the last week have made it clear that our process needs to be evaluated and we intend to do so. We need more transparency about our vision of change and we need a more inclusive process to engage the larger survivor community, many of the who have spent years doing the noble work of fighting for women, "the statement said.

CNN contacted Boylan for his reaction to Kaplan's resignation.

Cuomo denies the allegations contained in the report and, so far, has resisted widespread calls for his resignation.

The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee met Monday to discuss possible steps toward impeaching the longtime governor.

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CNN's Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.

Andrew Cuomo

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-08-10

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