New York State Assemblyman accused of sexually harassing three former staffers
Three women who formerly worked for a Buffalo-area state legislator made complaints of sexual harassment Thursday, accusing him of acts like dragging one to a massage parlor within two weeks of being hired, discussing his penis tattoos and commentary about their sexual characteristics.
Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, D-Cheektowaga, has lost key Democratic Party support after the accusations surfaced in the Albany Times Union and other publications Friday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the allegations startling and graphic in a 10-minute question-and-answer session Saturday morning, adding that"If it's true, I think he should resign." Jeremy Zellner, the chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, shared the sentiment, noting that “If these allegations are even close to being true, the Assembly member should resign immediately and spare the community from further embarrassment," he told the Buffalo News.
The filing in the New York Court of Claims by Gabryscak's former legislative director Jamie L. Campbell, Annalise Freling, Gabryszak’s former communications director, and Kimberly Snickles, who replaced Freling before quitting, detail a string of abuses, such as invitations to hotel rooms, sexual innuendo, expensive gifts and sending a video of himself in a bathroom stall “either receiving or pretending to be receiving fellatio," among the many allegations.