A young female staffer for a New York assemblyman now running for City Council alleged four years ago that he harassed her with suggestive gchats, but the claim was blocked from investigation by a lawyer for the chamber.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who himself faces a continued threat to his power after mishandling other harassment claims, said Wednesday he plans to fire the lawyer.
The case began in 2009 when Assemblyman Micah Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat now running for New York City Council, was accused of flirtatious and otherwise inappropriate online communication with a young female staffer. The New York Times first reported the case.
The accusation, including 15 pages of transcribed online chats, was reported at the time to longtime Assembly lawyer Bill Collins.
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According to the Times, Kellner said in one instant-messaging exchange that he hired her because "you were cute during the interview." After asking if she had a boyfriend, he told her, "I guess secretly I didn't want you to have one."
"I wouldn't mind falling asleep with you but not remotely," he wrote, according to the Times. "Did I offend?"
The Times said the woman sought to deflect his flirtations.
"Hard to miss somebody you're currently talking to, Micah," she said at one point.
After he urged her to make a move in Scrabble, she said she "was busy doing parts of my job that don't include Facebook."
Collins didn't advance the accusation to the Ethics Committee as required by Assembly policy, according to Silver, and he failed to tell Silver at the time, a spokesman for the speaker said Wednesday.
Silver "feels the matter should have been handled differently," spokesman Michael Whyland said.
He said that another assembly member told Silver on June 7 of this year, and Silver referred the case to the chamber's ethics committee, where it will be handled by private lawyers.
"Neither the speaker nor Assembly central staff will have any role in any investigations," Whyland said.
The case is the latest in a string of sexual harassment and misconduct cases in the Assembly during the tenure of Silver, who has run the chamber since 1994 and is a powerful figure in Albany. He is still trying to recover from his own mishandling of sexual harassment claims last year against Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez of Brooklyn. Silver used public money to pay a secret $103,000 settlement to the accusers to end charges against Lopez.
Lopez, who is also running for City Council, denies he harassed anyone.
Kellner, the former assemblyman at the center of the new accusations, issued a statement downplaying what happened.
"Over four years ago, for a few weeks while I was still single, I exchanged instant messages with a female member of my staff that were flirtatious," Kellner stated. "It was inappropriate. I was wrong and it was stupid. When I was told that my staffer felt the messages were unprofessional, I immediately stopped and regretted placing her in that position. I was sorry then and I am sorry now."
Silver and Kellner wouldn't answer questions about the case beyond providing their statements. Cuomo, who heads the Democratic party, wouldn't comment.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
