A rep for Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday counter-sued the state trooper and her legal professionals who accused his ex-governor boss of intercourse harassment, claiming they illegally focused him over his position as a spokesman.
The swimsuit, filed by Richard Azzopardi in Manhattan state Supreme Courtroom, stated the girl, solely recognized as “Trooper 1” in her case, and her legal professionals on the agency Wigdor LLP engaged in “malicious prosecution” by including him to their lawsuit towards Cuomo.
Azzopardi, who is understood for issuing combative statements on behalf of Cuomo, was named as a defendant of their swimsuit after he issued a press release slamming the regulation agency’s credibility.
Legal professionals for Wigdor have often dealt with high-profile circumstances, together with that of Cassie Ventura, the ex-girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs who accused him of abuse.
Azzopardi launched one disparaging assertion concerning the agency Feb. 17, 2022, after Widgor filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court docket on behalf of the trooper, who has claimed Cuomo “violated” her whereas in workplace.
The previous governor denies wrongdoing.
Azzopardi alleged on the time that the regulation agency was “extensively identified to make use of the press to extort settlements on behalf of ‘nameless claimants’ – that’s Un-American and won’t occur right here. Gov Cuomo will battle each try at low cost money extortions and is anxious to have the soiled politics cease – we stay up for justice in a court docket of regulation.”
Doug Wigdor then wrote to Azzopardi demanding a retraction and vowing to file a defamation swimsuit towards Azzopardi and Cuomo and add retaliation claims to the swimsuit.
Wigdor ended up including a retaliation declare towards Azzopardi and Cuomo however didn’t sue Azzopardi, Azzopardi’s counter-suit stated.
Decide DeArcy Corridor finally dismissed the grievance towards Azzopardi and eliminated it from the case in a ruling July 12.
However Azzopardi, who has since began his personal public-relations agency, misplaced purchasers and enterprise because of the “frivolous” swimsuit, court docket papers declare.
“Defendants had been profitable in harming Azzopardi. As a direct results of the amended federal grievance, Azzopardi misplaced enterprise and purchasers,” Azzopardi’s legal professionals, Neal Brickman and Ethan Leonard, stated within the civil swimsuit.
“Each current and potential purchasers terminated, or determined to not full, agreed upon contracts with Azzopardi and his just lately opened enterprise citing, as a foundation, the existence of the amended federal grievance.
“That submitting indubitably impaired Azzopardi’s skilled repute and prompted Azzopardi to lose materials numbers of as but unidentified further purchasers – precisely as Defendants supposed,” they stated.
In an attention-grabbing footnote, Azzopardi’s legal professionals stated they reserve the suitable to amend their grievance and use trooper’s title if the court docket guidelines to unmask her identification.
“That is the newest try and silence one in all Andrew Cuomo’s victims and intrude together with her rights,” stated Widgor lawyer Valdi Licul in a press release about Azzopardi’s swimsuit.
“As set forth in Trooper 1’s recently-filed grievance, Mr. Cuomo, usually by his spokesman Richard Azzopardi, has lobbed threats at anybody who has sought to carry Mr. Cuomo to account for creating what federal and state authorities have repeatedly discovered to be a hostile work setting for ladies. We won’t be deterred by this newest determined tactic.”
Azzopardi stated the state shouldn’t be bankrolling his lawsuit.
The state paid out greater than $25 million to reimburse Cuomo and different state aides for his or her authorized protection bills in sexual-harassment and different circumstances.
Cuomo resigned in shame in August 2021 after a damning investigative report commissioned by state Legal professional Normal Letitia James’ workplace substantiating harassment claims made by a slew of feminine staff towards the ex-governor, together with from Trooper 1.
Cuomo has denied the claims and is mulling a political comeback, together with a possible run for New York Metropolis mayor.
