NY passes anti-harassment laws sparked by Cuomo probe

By MARINA VILLENEUVE
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — All New York public employees are now protected from harassment in the workplace and employers are prohibited from releasing personnel files to retaliate against alleged victims. That’s part of a package of new laws signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday. The Democratic governor signed the laws at the Javits Center in New York City alongside members of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, whose leaders have pushed for anti-harassment reforms for years and spoken about their own experiences facing harassment as legislative employees. The new law addressing retaliation directly targets a tactic state Attorney General Letitia James says former Gov. Andrew Cuomo used to try to discredit the first person to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment.