August 4, 2021

Alex Berke Quoted in Law 360 Piece on the Cuomo Sexual Misconduct Fallout

In the fallout of the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ report on her office’s investigation into sexual harassment claims brought against Governor Cuomo, many New Yorkers and Americans are asking, “What’s next?” While the path ahead is still unclear, the report itself provides a cogent roadmap for any potential lawsuits that might come as a result of Cuomo’s actions.

Senior Associate Alex Berke was quoted in Frank Runyeon’s analysis for Law 360, which details the investigation’s potential role to play in future litigation:

A key question for Cuomo and his allies is what will follow the AG's incendiary report, Berke said.

"Even though there's this kind of bombshell report of with so many details of actions of the governor took," Berke said, barring a criminal indictment or impeachment, "all that can come next is whether or not individuals choose to bring a claim against him." If they do, she said, the report certainly provides plenty of behind-the-scenes insight that would greatly improve the specificity of a plaintiff's claims, help craft deposition questions and target discovery requests.

Potential plaintiffs "now have a lot more information about what happened than the usual employee" bringing an employment claim, Berke said. Without ever conducting discovery or deposing a witness, they can benefit from the trove of details in the report, she added.

Click to read the rest of Cuomo Sexual Misconduct Report A Road Map For Lawsuits.

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Wen Congress passed the CARES Act back in March, which included a temporary boost in unemployment benefits for people affected by the pandemic, there was bound to be controversy. But new research is showing that unemployment benefits and enhanced jobless security is not the deterrent employers believe it to be. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest as such, and now, according to the New York Times, there is data driven evidence to back this up.

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