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Charlotte Bennett

@char-bennett.bsky.social

303 followers 85 following 0 posts

Legal comms & PR / Cuomo whistleblower / she/her / all views my own / NY

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Reposted by Charlotte Bennett

Harassment-Free New York @hfny.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Last week, HFNY Founding Director @ericaforny.bsky.social joined @lindseyboylan.bsky.social, @char-bennett.bsky.social & @biaggi4ny.bsky.social to call on state leaders to take urgent action against Cuomo’s continued abuse of taxpayer resources and legal intimidation tactics. 1/

"New Yorkers just rejected Andrew Cuomo at the ballot box. Now it's time for our state leaders to reject his taxpayer-funded retribution," said Erica Vladimer, Founding Director of Harassment-Free Albany. “Survivors and whistleblowers shouldn’t have to live in fear of being dragged through the legal system simply for telling the truth.”
Speakers also advocated for the swift passage of the Speak Your Truth Act, a bill designed to protect workers and public servants from retaliatory defamation lawsuits. The legislation would provide essential protections to those who come forward with allegations of harassment or misconduct, shielding them from the kind of legal harassment that survivors and former Cuomo staffers are currently enduring.

“We know that perpetrators abuse the legal system to silence their victims through retaliatory defamation lawsuits,” said survivor-advocate Charlotte Bennett. “New York deserves laws that reflect the reality of the legal system in which these suits are retaliatory in nature and muzzle the very people we're trying to protect. This isn't about politics. This isn't about a single individual. The decision is really between supporting survivors and workers and making sure that there are protections in place for them to share their experiences.”

“In 2019, New York really was the pinnacle of leadership, passing the strongest laws for sexual harassment protection, putting survivors voices first and having hearings and making sure that New York continued to be a light for the rest of the nation when it came to sexual harassment and the protections that could be passed,” said former State Senator Alessandra Biaggi. “Now, today, in 2025, it is time to take that next step. We need a commitment from the legislature to pass the Speak Your Truth Act. And there is no excuse any longer to be funding any of the retaliation and, frankly, cruelty that Andrew Cuomo is pursuing by continuing to drag his survivors through the court system. We must cut off his funding, Comptroller DiNappoli. We will have your back when you do it. And we will make sure that Andrew Cuomo's reign of terror ends.”

Tuesday’s election was a public repudiation of the kind of corrupt, vindictive politics Cuomo represents. Advocates say it's now up to state leaders to follow through on voters’ demands for accountability and to end the misuse of public money in service of political revenge.
“Abusing the women who work for you, as Andrew Cuomo has done relentlessly, is something that every leader should care about and repudiate,” said survivor-advocate Lindsey Boylan. On a more fundamental level, Cuomo’s abuse of women is a symptom of his deep abuse of every kind of power he has ever had. New York lawmakers are either against this abuse or they’re supporting it. There are only two sides here.”

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Reposted by Charlotte Bennett

Erica Vladimer @ericaforny.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

"Throughout this extraordinarily painful two year case, I’ve many times believed that I’d be better off dead than endure more his litigation abuse...I desperately need to live my life. That’s the choice I am making today." So much love to Charlotte. Andrew Cuomo is a monster. My statement below.

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Reposted by Charlotte Bennett

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

That the legal system too often becomes a second round of violation, abuse, and bullying is well known and still worth repeating.

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