Time's Up announces massive layoffs in ongoing fallout from Cuomo sexual harassment connection
CEO resigned this summer following report she asked colleagues to "stand down" from supporting Democratic governor's first accuser.
A Hollywood group that purports to fight workplace harassment, but advised now-disgraced ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he was facing sexual harassment claims, announced it's "going down to the studs to completely rebuild."
Time's Up is laying off 22 of its 25 remaining staff and restructuring, with only four board members remaining and its interim CEO among the departures, according to The Washington Post.
They made the decision after reviewing a report by a consultant who interviewed 85 current and former staff and stakeholders. The report concluded the group was too "well-connected" and "beholden to politics" to be trustworthy.
"We can overcome our organizational lapses to serve the needs of women of all kinds. This organization is bigger than any one person," board member and actress Ashley Judd said.
It's just the latest fallout for the 3-year-old organization founded to capitalize on the #TimesUp movement. Its CEO, Tina Tchen, resigned in August after she was reported to have told staff to "stand down" on releasing a statement supporting the Democratic governor's first accuser, Lindsey Boylan.
Her resignation quickly followed that of board co-chair Roberta Kaplan after it was reported she had reviewed a draft of a letter questioning Boylan's character.
The Post reported the legal defense fund Time's Up helped create is still running at the National Women's Law Center, but it ended a contract with SKDK, a high-profile Democrat-affiliated public affairs firm that also worked closely with Time’s Up.