ALBANY — One of the state's most powerful lawmakers was abruptly stripped of his committee chairmanship, funding and other perks on Friday after an ethics committee concluded he had
aggressively sexually harassed two female Assembly employees during the last several months.
Vito Lopez, a veteran Brooklyn assemblyman and
chair of the borough's Democratic Party, groped, felt and tried to kiss one of the women during a trip last month to Atlantic City, according to findings of the Assembly's Standing Committee on Ethics and Guidance.
He also engaged in verbal assaults and physical violations that got worse over time, the committee said.As a result, Assembly Democratic Majority Speaker Sheldon Silver, in a letter released Friday afternoon, said he was stripping Lopez of his chairmanship of the powerful Housing Committee and prohibiting him from hiring anyone under the age of 21. Moreover, interns are no longer allowed in Lopez's office. And he has forfeited "any rights or privileges of seniority."
Additionally, Silver cut Lopez's staff and the ability for him to serve in any other leadership post.
It was a stunning rebuke to one of the Assembly's most controversial lawmakers.
First elected in 1984, Lopez is known as an old-school politician who runs Brooklyn's Democratic machine in "lockdown," as one observer described it.
He has also, according to earlier news reports, come under investigation by federal and New York City authorities as to his relationships with nonprofit groups he created and controls.
Those investigations have not led to any charges.
Lopez was getting calls for resignation late Friday, including one from U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Citizens Union.
"Assemblymember Vito Lopez has brought disrespect to his office and violated the public trust of his constituents. Given the atrociousness of the allegations deemed credible by his Assembly colleagues, he must resign," said Citizen Union's Dick Dadey.
Lopez did not return a call for comment.
People who have worked with him say he likes to keep people "off balance," by acting aggressively or getting them to wonder what he may do next.
He is divorced with two children, and he underwent cancer treatments in the 1990s and in 2010.
Lopez's punishment was swift and harsh, observers said. Legislative ethics watchdogs haven't had the best reputations in past years, with federal indictments sometimes moving faster than some in-house proceedings.
His punishment, which included a letter of censure and mandatory sexual harassment training, followed well-detailed findings. Among them:
Lopez engaged in "pervasive unwelcome verbal conduct" from early June until the time the complaints of sexual harassment were made in mid-July. This included repeated comments about the women's physical appearance, their bodies, their attire and their private relationships." The conduct also escalated over time, according to the findings.
There also were "multiple incidents of unwelcome physical conduct toward one complainant, wherein you put your hand on her leg, she removed your hand, and you then put your hand between her upper thighs, putting your hand as far up between her legs as you could go."
Lopez also required one of the women to take a trip with him to Atlantic City in July.
The complainants also said Lopez forced his victims to write to him, talking about how they loved their jobs and cared about him. He then criticized them for "being insufficiently effusive."
Members of the Ethics Committee, including Albany's Jack McEneny, said they couldn't comment on the findings. Others were unavailable Friday.
Committee proceedings are considered secret, with only the conclusions made public.
The group met Aug. 16, according to an online schedule of committee meetings.
News of Lopez's behavior became the talk of state political circles Friday, with various theories about the timing of the release.
Several people said they believed this may be coming before more serious accusations were to surface regarding Lopez's relationships with nonprofits.
Others noted that the findings are coming shortly before next month's primaries in which a Lopez-backed candidate, Erik Dilan, the son of state Sen. Martin Dilan, is challenging U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez in a primary.
Lopez and Velazquez are longtime rivals.
Still others said they believed recent upticks in the number of women involved in politics, including some new Assembly members, may be adding pressure on the leadership to act quickly when harassment allegations arise.
The changes may also come as "everybody is a little uncomfortable" about how secure they are in elected positions, given the angry mood of the electorate.
Either way, good government groups said they were glad to see the Assembly acted quickly on the harassment charges.
"What we are seeing is that the Assembly, to their credit, can respond to allegations of harassment," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause NY.
rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU
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