As Vito Lopez resigned from the state assembly amid a sexual harassment scandal Monday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed sweeping changes to sexual harassment policies amid mounting criticism of the way he’d handled the affair.

Silver announced plans to create an independent investigator to look into all sexual harassment complaints reported to the assembly, the New York Post reports.

Secret settlements — like the one Silver approved for two of Lopez’s accusers last year — would be banned, according to the proposed changes, and all sexual harassment complaints must be reported immediately.

The proposals come as women’s groups, government watchdog organizations and others have called for Silver’s resignation. According to a report by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics released last week, Silver’s staff failed to refer initial sexual harassment allegations against Lopez to an ethics committee.

A special prosecutor who cleared Lopez of criminal charges due to a lack of evidence said what he found in the investigation was “alarming,” and that the way the assembly’s leadership handled the allegations encouraged Lopez to continue with his inappropriate conduct.

Lopez resigned Monday morning after 28 years in the assembly.

Silver said on Monday, “I never gave any thought to resigning.”

The post Sheldon Silver proposes changes to sex harassment policies appeared first on Metro.us.

Vito Lopez may no longer be Sheldon Silver’s colleague as of this morning, but it seems he may still be the Speaker’s problem.

Calls for investigation into Silver have developed into calls for a coup, as women’s groups, government watchdog organizations, and newspaper editorial boards across the state rail against the Speak.

Thursday’s New York Post covered featured the Speaker with Lopez under the headline “Dirty Old Men.” Silver is being criticized for arranging a confidential settlement with staffers who filed sexual harassment complaints against Lopez.

Assemblyman Micah Kellner, running for City Council, told the New York Times the investigation into the confidentiality agreement needs to include “who proposed it, who wrote it, and who required it.”

Lopez was cleared of criminal charges, but a 68-page report by the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics detailed shocking behavior.

Lopez reportedly pushed his hand “all the way up” the inner thigh of an employee, and two others contracted pink eye after consenting to apply eye drops to Lopez’s infected eyes. At a bar in Brooklyn he apparently grabbed the hand of an employee, and squeezed harder when she tried to pull away. She began to cry and he forced her to count to sixty before releasing her.

He also made a staffer massage his hand after asking her if she “felt guilty” about being a victim of sexual assault in college. While she cried, he said, “I like that you’re holding my hand.”

A recent New York Post report stated that state government corruptions costs taxpayers at least $49,710,630.64. According to The Post, that amount of money could fund two new schools, 100 new fire trucks, or the New York Islanders.

The Post noted that the Lopez settlement cost taxpayers $103,000.

Past attacks against Silver have not been successful. Over a decade ago, Syracuse Assemblyman Michael Bragman attempted to overthrow Silver as Assembly Speaker, and Silver immediately took away Bragman’s title as majority leader. Silver’s allies crushed Bragman without Silver ever emerging from his office to come to the floor to defend himself.

A source apparently told the Daily News that Governor Andrew Cuomo is leaving Lopez’s seat vacant until a primary can be held in September, in order to prevent Lopez from being able to exert any control over his replacement in a special election.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Vito Lopez scandal remains an issue for Sheldon Silver appeared first on Metro.us.

State Assemblyman Vito Lopez is set to resign Monday morning after an ethics report detailing sexual harassment allegations against him led Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to take steps to expel the assemblyman. But as Lopez prepares to leave office, Silver is facing mounting scrutiny for secretly approving a settlement with two women who accused Lopez, the New York Times reports.

The report released last week by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics found that Silver and his staff failed to refer the initial allegations against Lopez to the ethics committee. And a separate report by Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan suggested that the way Silver’s staff handled the allegations encouraged Lopez to continue with his inappropriate conduct.

The state Republican Party and several Assembly Republicans have called for Silver’s resignation, the Times reports. Women’s groups and government watchdog organizations have also criticized the speaker. No prominent Democratic elected officials have called for Silver to step down.

“The speaker has said from the start that we have made serious mistakes in the way this was handled, although we believed at the time we were acting according to the wishes of the victims,” a spokesman for Silver wrote in an email to the Times. “We will be discussing with members important changes so these mistakes will not be repeated.”

The allegations against Lopez first became public last August. Anger towards the assemblyman intensified after last week’s report, which contained graphic details of how Lopez sexually harassed at least eight female staffers. He told the women to massage him, wear low-cut blouses and miniskirts, stay overnight with him to “cuddle” and other requests. Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated that Lopez should be expelled if he does not resign.

Lopez said Friday that he would resign on June 20 and then focus on his run for City Council, but he announced on Saturday that he would resign effective Monday at 9 a.m.

The post As Vito Lopez resigns, scrutiny of Speaker Silver mounts appeared first on Metro.us.

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced Thursday night that he would take steps to recommend the expulsion of State Assemblyman Vito Lopez after a scathing report detailing sexual harassment allegations against Lopez was released on Wednesday.

Silver said Thursday that he would introduce a resolution on Friday asking the Assembly’s Ethics and Guidance Committee to “recommend appropriate sanctions including expulsion” against Lopez, the New York Times reports.

The announcement comes after Silver, a Manhattan democrat, himself has been under attack for his handling of the allegations following the Joint Commission on Public Ethics’ report and a separate report by Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan.

With Silver’s approval, the Assembly’s leadership secretly settled two sexual harassment allegations against Lopez and failed to refer the cases to an ethics committee for investigation, the Times reports.

Lopez has maintained his innocence. He was re-elected last year after the allegations first became public, and he has been eying a City Council run.

But the lengthy JCOPE report released this week has stirred more anger towards the assemblyman. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that he believes Lopez should be expelled if he does not resign.

According to the report, Lopez demanded female staffers to massage him, send him flirtatious text messages, wear revealing clothing and stay overnight in hotel rooms with him.

Elected officials from both parties have called for Lopez’s expulsion, the Times reports. Republicans called for Silver’s ouster as well, while Democrats generally said they believe Silver has acknowledged his mistakes and will handle future allegations differently.

The post Sheldon Silver to recommend expulsion of Vito Lopez appeared first on Metro.us.

On the same day that a special investigator announced that State Assemblyman Vito Lopez will not face criminal charges over allegations that he sexually harassed female staffers, the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics released a 70-page report containing graphic details of the assemblyman’s alleged abused, and how he got away with it for so long.

Lopez forced his hands up one woman’s legs, the report revealed. He told the women to wear low-cut blouses, miniskirts and high heels. He tried to persuade some of the women to stay overnight with him in hotel rooms. And he forced one woman to rub his hand even as she cried because she told him she had been raped in college, the New York Times reported.

The report also detailed how the assembly’s leadership protected Lopez from public scrutiny amid the sexual harassment allegations. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker’s staff members failed to investigate or refer the allegations to the assembly’s ethics committee, the Times reports.

Eight women were harassed by Lopez, according to the report. The employees feared that Lopez would use his power to ruin their careers if they complained.

The report was released shortly after Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan said Wednesday that Lopez would not be charged over sexual harassment allegations following a months-long investigation because there was not enough evidence to prove “a chargeable crime was committed within the confines of Kings County.”

Donovan said, however, that “what we found is certainly alarming.” He said the way in which assembly leaders handled a confidential settlement with women in a separate incident encouraged Lopez to continue with his inappropriate conduct.

The post Report details Vito Lopez sexual harassment allegations appeared first on Metro.us.

State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who is accused in a sexual harassment scandal, is expected to escape all criminal charges against him, the New York Post reports. 

The prosecutor in the trial will announce Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to charge Lopez, sources told the Post. The assemblyman is accused of groping young female staffers.

The scandal, which became public last summer, also revealed that State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker authorized a settlement of more than $100,000 in taxpayer money with two other women who made previous allegations against Lopez.

Lopez remains in the assembly, but was forced to step down as Brooklyn’s Democratic Party leader. The assemblyman held a fundraiser last month for a possible City Council run.

National Organization for Women president Sonia Ossorio blasted Lopez today, saying he should be expelled from political office, now and in the future.

“The Assembly engaged in a shameful cover-up at great expense to all women who live and work in New York State,” she said.  “Despite the fact that no criminality was found, Mr. Lopez is clearly unfit for office.”

The post Vito Lopez not likely to face charges appeared first on Metro.us.

The New York State Legislature has sent a letter to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics demanding that any mention of Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office be removed from an investigative report into sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the New York Times reported.

The letter states that the inquest into the role played by Silver’s office is outside of the jurisdiction of the ethics regulators.

Following the public outing of the Lopez scandal last summer, Silver admitted he authorized a settlement with other women who had made allegations of sexual harassment by Lopez.

Silver has previously called for the release of the report in full, which his spokesman repeated following the release of the letter.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post New York State Legislature demands ethics report be redacted appeared first on Metro.us.

The special prosecutor investigating sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, has requested that the legislative ethics committee of the New York State Legislature withhold the report they’ve drafted until his investigation is finished, the NY Times reported.

However, a source allegedly told the Daily News the delay is “probably indefinite.”

According to the Daily News, the report “eviscerates” Lopez, and also does not reflect well on Speaker Sheldon Silver, who became entangled with the issue over a $103,000 settlement given to two female staffers who accused Lopez of harassment. The report allegedly does not say that Silver or his staff committed any ethical or criminal violation.

The report also allegedly describes new or worse instances of inappropriate touching by Lopez, according to the Times, though it is not clear if those details are grounds for criminal charges or simply unsavory.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Prosecutor requests Vito Lopez sexual harrassment report withheld appeared first on Metro.us.