(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been hit with a lawsuit by a former New York Police Department colleague who alleges that he demanded sexual acts in exchange for helping her get a promotion.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, alleges that Adams sexually assaulted Lorna Beach-Mathura in 1993 when the two worked for the NYPD’s transit division, and Adams was with the Guardians Association, a fraternal order of the police department.
“Instead of helping Plaintiff get fair treatment at the Defendant Transit Bureau, Defendant Adams preyed on her perceived vulnerability, demanding a quid pro quo sexual favor and sexually assaulting Plaintiff, revealing himself not to be the ‘Guardian’ he purported to be, but a predator,” Beach-Mathura’s lawyers wrote in the 26-page complaint.
“The effects of that sexual assault, betrayal, and astonishing abuse of power, continue to haunt plaintiff to this day,” they wrote.
In a statement, New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix blasted the allegations as “outrageous” but said the mayor denies them and expects “full vindication” in court.
“Additionally, in 1993, Eric Adams was one of the most prominent public opponents of racism within the NYPD, which is why the suit’s allegations that he had any sway over promotions of civilian employees is ludicrous,” she said.
Beach-Mathura, who now lives in Florida, was hired by the transit police as an administrative aide in 1980 but stopped working for the city in 1994 — a year after the alleged assault, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit accuses Adams of sexual assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and also accuses the City of New York and the NYPD Transit Bureau of negligence. It also accuses Adams and the city agencies of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and enabling a crime of gender-motivated violence.
When Beach-Mathura was passed over for promotions while working as an administrative aide for the Transit Bureau, she turned to Adams, who at the time was a “high-ranking member” at the fraternal organization, according to the lawsuit. But instead of helping her get a promotion, Adams propositioned the woman.
Lawyers for the plaintiff describe lurid details of the alleged sexual assault, saying that Adams drove her to a vacant lot and asked her to perform oral sex on him, which she rejected. He continued to sexually assault her, according to the lawsuit.
“[The] plaintiff was frightened not only due to Defendant Adams’ appalling conduct, but also because she knew that he, as a police officer, had at least one loaded gun in the car,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit follows a summons filed in the state Supreme Court in November under the state’s Adult Survivors Act by a woman who alleges he sexually assaulted her. Adams has denied the allegations and said he doesn’t know the accuser.
