Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo subjected more than a dozen female employees to "a sexually hostile work environment," the Department of Justice said Friday.

The DOJ's characterization came within an agreement with the executive chamber of the state of New York to resolve claims of sexual harassment and retaliation in Cuomo’s administration.

The DOJ said its investigation, which it said was conducted jointly with the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, found that Cuomo repeatedly “subjected at least thirteen female employees” of the state to “non-consensual sexual contact; ogling; unwelcome sexual comments; gender-based nicknames; comments on their physical appearances; and/or preferential treatment based on their physical appearances.”

The Executive Chamber during the Cuomo administration also failed to stop the harassment, and Cuomo’s senior staff retaliated against four of the women he harassed, according to the DOJ.

In a statement, Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin called the agreement “nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation.”

“The DOJ ‘investigation’ was based entirely on the NYS Attorney General's deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased, and misleading report,” Glavin wrote, in part. “At no point did DOJ even contact Governor Cuomo concerning these matters.”

“It is shocking, because we had made such headway in our laws to protect state workers from harassment in the workplace, which is so incredibly serious, but now we know how widely pervasive it is at every level of government," state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal of Manhattan said.

The agreement acknowledged that the state has made changes since Gov. Kathy Hochul entered office, including creating a human resources department for the Executive Chamber and allowing employees to file anonymous complaints. But the agreement also calls for further reforms, including an expansion of that human resources department; the creation of procedures for the external reporting, investigation and resolution of complaints against high-level Executive Chamber employees; and the implementation of anti-retaliation programs.

"The moment I took office, I knew I needed to root out the culture of harassment that had previously plagued the Executive Chamber and implement strong policies to promote a safe workplace for all employees, and took immediate action to do so,” Hochul said in a statement Friday after the agreement was announced. “I am pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged the significance of those efforts, and look forward to partnering with them as we continue to build upon that success."

Cuomo resigned in August 2021 after state Attorney General Letitia James released a report detailing harassment allegations against the former governor. James’ report detailed allegations by 11 women – nine state employees and two non-state employees. The DOJ agreement references “at least thirteen female employees.”

A DOJ probe was opened soon after the state attorney general’s report was released. The probe's existence was revealed in a contract, signed in October 2021, that was released by the state comptroller's office in December of that year.