Andrew Cuomo’s brother-in-law and top campaign staffer is being accused of covering up sexual abuse claims against one of his employees — who allegedly groped underage girls at a Brooklyn sports center, The Post has learned.
Brian O’Donoghue — the husband of the ex-gov’s sister Madeline and president of Cuomo’s mayoral campaign — was recently named in court documents tied to an ongoing lawsuit against the Aviator Sports Complex.
The lawsuit, filed by Nicole Comito, claims she was retaliated against for reporting sexual abuse allegations against fellow gymnastics coach Craig Brown.
The bombshell suit states that three girls from the gymnastics program at Aviator told their female coach, Comito, in September 2019 that Brown would allegedly touch their “chest, buttocks and crotch” while training.
Comito alleges in her ongoing lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, that she immediately reported the allegations to her superior, but was told the claims were bogus and was later berated by the HR boss, who told her to “keep [her] mouth shut because [she is] just making things worse.”
The next day, Comito reported through a coworker that she wouldn’t be able to work her shift over her cooperation with an investigation into the matter by the National Park Police, which had jurisdiction since Aviator is owned by the feds, her suit states.
Eight days after the complaints were reported, Comito was notified that “due to the nature of the investigation and everything that’s happening at Aviator, we’re going to be taking you off the schedule until further notice,” her suit states.
In the meantime, Aviator allegedly quickly helped Brown hire counsel for advice after the investigation was launched, according to the lawsuit.
The original 2021 complaint filed by Comito accused the Aviator’s management company Arklow-FBF LLC of violating the city’s human rights law for allegedly firing her after she reported the sexual abuse claims.
Comito’s lawyers have since filed a proposed amended complaint adding allegations of insurance fraud against O’Donoghue — the managing member and executive chairman of Arklow-FBF LLC — and CFO Gregory Shrock.
The execs allegedly “actively sought the termination” of Comito after she reported the claims, state the court documents, filed last month.
They are also accused of failing to immediately report the sexual abuse allegations to their insurance and of trying to block Comito from receiving a payout from their liability insurance policy as part of her lawsuit.
O’Donoghue and Shrock “actively sought the termination of Plaintiff’s employment over the explicit warning from Aviator’s Human Resources Director that terminating Plaintiff’s employment would be an unlawful retaliatory act,” the complaint states.
“Also during discovery in this litigation, O’Donoghue and Shrock intentionally took steps to prevent Plaintiff from being able to collect a judgment, should she win one, through Aviator’s employment practices liability insurance policy,” it adds.
In deposition transcripts filed as part of the case, Shrock said that Comito not returning to work was supposed to be temporary while the investigation played out. He claimed a “miscommunication” between staff had resulted in Comito “believing she was fired.”
O’Donoghue said Monday he had “no comment” about the claims “except that it will play out in court.”
Arklow’s lawyer, Maurizio Savoiardo, said: “The case has no merit. Nicole Comito is not alleging she was harassed – the underlying instance was reported to the feds. The feds investigated it and found no basis for prosecution.”
A National Parks spokesperson confirmed that the investigation into the sexual abuse allegations was still open as of July, but did not respond to further requests for comment.
Brown, who has not been charged with a crime, could not be reached for comment.
O’Donoghue stated in his deposition that one of the young accusers’ parents recanted the allegation after seeing video showing that the girl accidentally bumped herself in the chest.
Multiple attempts by The Post to interview the accusers and their parents were unsuccessful.
One of the alleged victims’ parents declined to speak to The Post as they didn’t “want to reopen the trauma” while attempts to get in touch with another accuser’s parents were unsuccessful.
The third accuser’s parents signed a sworn affidavit, slamming Aviator for its handling of the accusations.
“We believe that Aviator instigated a deliberate cover-up to protect Craig, and denied its students, and us their parents, every modicum of respect that we deserved in the situation,” the document charges.
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