The Assembly Speaker prohibited him from employing any interns. He also ordered him to stop revealing the name of the complainant, and the details of the allegations and investigations.
Heastie also instructed McLaughlin to reimburse the cost of the comprehensive supplemental sexual harassment and retaliation prevention training he took in July 2017.
McLaughlin calls the findings “pathetic political hit job”
In a statement, McLaughlin denied engaging in any sexual misconduct and violating any Assembly policy. He called the findings of the Committee a “pathetic political hit job.”
He said, “In what can only be described as a pathetic political hit job, a despicable element the New York State Assembly sunk to a new low when it used its Committee on Ethics and Guidance as a political weapon to release untrue, baseless and legally infirm allegations against me in an attempt to negatively impact my career as a public servant.”
McLaughlin also emphasized that the Committee’s letter on June 23 indicated that “there was no finding of violation” of any Assembly policy. He said the Committee committed unlawful conduct and violated the New York Civil Rights Law section 73. The law protects the rights of any person subject to an investigation by a government committee.
