In what could be an earthquake of a shakeup, the New York state Sen. Jeff Klein is denying allegations that he forcibly kissed a former staffer back in 2015, outside of a bar—during an informal staff get-together to celebrate the passing of the state’s budget. Erica Vladimer, a 30-year-old former staff member of state Sen. Klein’s team told the Huffington Post that back in 2015 after chatting with Klein and his then girlfriend state Sen. Diane Savino, Vladimer and Klein stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, where Klein then allegedly forced himself upon the young woman.
“All of a sudden there was a hand on the back of my head and he shoved his tongue down my throat,” she said. “In my head it lasted forever, I don’t think it lasted even three seconds.”
Vladimer said she could taste the cigarette the senator had been smoking.
“I pulled away and I said, ‘Senator, absolutely not.’” she said. “And he looked at me and said, with this stupid little grin on his face, ‘What? What?’ Like he was being coy, almost trying to flirt and play a game.”
Vladimer left her position a month or so later and says it took far too long for her to realize that she hadn’t done anything wrong. She remembers being mortified that state Sen. Savino might have seen Klein kissing her, potentially ruining Vladimer’s young working life. Klein and Savino both deny this incident happened though they agree that the drinks at the bar and the trip Klein and Vladimer took outside for their cigarette took place.
The Huffington Post points out, Vladimer has not gone about this lightly, speaking with state Sen. Liz Krueger before making her decision to come forward. Vladimer did not tell Kruger who she was going to come forward against. When HuffPo went back to Krueger with the knowledge that state Sen. Klein was the alleged attacker, Krueger had this to say:
“I find her to be a sincere and credible person who was clearly very shaken about what happened to her that she made the decision to leave state government in Albany because of it,” Krueger told HuffPost. “And that she comes forward not because she’s looking for a payday, nor does she think this is somehow helpful to her. She actually recognizes that the exposure could be extremely difficult for her, believes truly that she needs to speak out so that other women don’t fall victim to the same kinds of behavior that she had to go through.”
Vladimer says that she isn’t looking for Klein to resign unless he’s unwilling to use this moment to step up to the plate and help restore some of what he has taken.
“I think Senator Klein needs to step up,” she said. “As a leader of a very powerful conference in the New York state legislature, he has the ability to effectuate change. We have the Senate Dems who put out legislative packages on sexual harassment, and the governor saying he’s going to discuss proposals. What’s the IDC going to do? What’s the GOP going to do?”
We will see what Klein and the IDC do in the wake of these allegations, and whether or not more people will come forward with similar stories about the abuses of power and position.