Eric Adams accuser says she sent emails about supposed assault during Adams’ mayoral campaign

MANHATTAN (CN) — The woman accusing New York City Mayor Eric Adams of sexually assaulting her in 1993 now says that she told at least seven people about the incident long before she sued the mayor in state court.

She even sent emails about the incident while Adams was running for mayor, according to plaintiff Lorna Beach-Mathura in a Monday court filing.

Beach-Mathura first came forward with her claims against Adams in November 2023 when she filed a summons against him under the Adult Survivors Act — a law that gives New Yorkers one year to file sexual assault claims that otherwise fell outside of the statute of limitations.

The details of the accusation were unknown until March 2024, when Beach-Mathura filed her complaint accusing Adams of “demanding a quid pro quo sexual favor” while the pair worked together at the New York City’s transit police bureau more than three decades ago.

Beach-Mathura accuses Adams of demanding oral sex in exchange for help with a promotion. When Beach-Mathura refused, she said Adams forcibly pushed her hand onto his erect penis and ejaculated on her leg.

The parties are currently scheduling depositions for witnesses and exchanging discovery, where they appeared to hit a bit of an impasse, according to recent court documents. In a filing from last week, Adams argues that the plaintiff was withholding crucial information from the defense during discovery.

Adams acknowledged that the plaintiff shared a list of more than 50 people who reportedly have “personal knowledge” about the accusation, as well as “a list of individuals” that she directly told about the incident. But Adams argues that the lists were “deficient” because of the information that’s missing.

“Critically, however, plaintiff refuses to identify a date or approximate date on which she claims to have told three individuals about the alleged assault in 1993,” Adams writes. “This omitted information is highly relevant.”

The missing information, the mayor argues, is part of a “pattern of delay and obfuscation apparently designed to avoid having this case proceed towards a resolution on the merits.”

On Monday, Beach-Mathura lambasted Adams’ “outrageous” letter in a filing of her own via her attorney Megan Goddard. Chiding the defendants’ “false, inflammatory and irrelevant statements” about the plaintiff’s discovery conduct, Beach-Mathura called Adams’ letter a “shameless attempt to influence public opinion by litigating this matter to the press.”

“In fact, plaintiff’s interrogatory responses include the names of over fifty fact witnesses, including nine individuals whom plaintiff told about Defendant Adams’ sexual assault on her, seven of whom she told before the Adult Survivor’s Act allowed her the right to sue,” Beach-Mathura writes.

Beach-Mathura says she even produced evidence showing that she sent emails about the supposed assault during Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.

According Beach-Mathura in the Monday letter, it is actually the defendants who are withholding relevant information in discovery. Adams has repeatedly claimed that he never knew Beach-Mathura during his time as a transit cop, but Beach-Mathura says the defense is failing to produce information to prove that.

“Defendants have inexplicably failed to produce even the most basic employment records that show whether or not plaintiff and Defendant Adams worked together at the Transit Department for the City of New York,” she said. “Given the fact that Defendant Adams has repeatedly denied knowing plaintiff, defendants’ failure to produce the relevant employment records speaks volumes.”

Goddard and Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Beach-Mathura is seeking $5 million in damages. In addition to Adams, she names the City of New York, the NYPD Transit Bureau and the NYPD Guardians Association — a fraternal organization of Black police officers once led by Adams — as defendants in the suit.

The parties are set to convene Friday morning for a virtual conference.

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