Time’s Up Chair Roberta Kaplan Resigns Amid Fallout Over Andrew Cuomo Scandal

Roberta Kaplan, the chair of the board of directors of Time’s Up, resigned on Monday amid the fallout over her role in offering advice to Andrew Cuomo’s administration as the New York governor faced multiple sexual harassment allegations.

In a letter to attorney Nina Shaw, the vice chair of the organization’s board of directors, Kaplan wrote that “recent events have made it clear that even apparent allies in our fight to advance women can turn out to be abusers. We have felt the raw, personal and profound pain of that betrayal. It has raised important questions of how and why Times Up does what it does, as well as demands on the part of advocates and staff for a kind of radical transparency.”

The New York Times obtained a copy of Kaplan’s resignation letter here.

In recent days, Time’s Up has faced some criticism over Kaplan’s role in advising Cuomo’s administration. A state Attorney General report, detailing the allegations from 11 women against Cuomo, revealed that Kaplan reviewed a draft letter that would have attacked one of the accusers, Lindsey Boylan. The letter was not published, but Kaplan has continued to represent Melissa DeRosa, one of Cuomo’s aides, who resigned on Sunday.

Kaplan wrote that she “cannot offer the degree of transparency about my firm’s matters now being demanded, since that would be contrary to my responsibilities as a lawyer. I therefore have reluctantly come to the conclusion that an active litigation practice is no longer compatible with serving on the Board of Times Up at this time and I hereby resign.”

Time’s Up was founded after several prominent women came forward to detail sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Kaplan also was cofounder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

Kaplan represented Edie Windsor in a 2013 Supreme Court case that paved the way for same-sex marriage rights across the country.

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