Brooklyn Boro

Judge: Vito Lopez must pay for harassment allegations

June 10, 2015 Associated Press
Ex-Brooklyn assemblymember Vito Lopez. AP file photo
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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is vowing to “take all appropriate action” to compel a former state lawmaker to pay a $330,000 penalty for allegedly groping and intimidating female staff members.

The promise from a Schneiderman spokesman came after a state Supreme Court justice on Monday ruled in favor Schneiderman and dismissed former Assemblymember Vito Lopez’s claims that he was denied due process.

The once-powerful Brooklyn Democrat was accused of harassing young female staffers in a 2012 scandal. He denied it. Attempts to reach his attorney on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The $330,000 fine was assessed by the Legislative Ethics Commission after it determined that Lopez had violated ethics rules 33 times.

Taxpayers are on the hook for $545,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by two former Lopez staffers.

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