Eric Adams has ‘no interest’ in settling sexual assault suit

MANHATTAN (CN) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is not considering settling with the woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her in 1993, a city lawyer said Tuesday at a discovery conference.

An attorney for Adams’ accuser, former city Transit Police administrative aide Lorna Beach-Mathura, said at the meeting that their side would entertain settlement talks with the mayor. Adams isn’t on the same page.

“There is no interest,” said Maxwell Leighton, a New York City Law Department attorney representing Adams in the civil lawsuit.

In her 2024 lawsuit, Beach-Mathura accuses Adams of “demanding a quid pro quo sexual favor” in exchange for helping her get a promotion while the pair worked at the now-defunct New York City Transit Police Department more than three decades ago.

Beach-Mathura claims after she asked Adams, a high-ranking transit cop at the time, for career advice, he offered to drive her home from work one night to talk about her prospects. Instead of taking her home, she says Adams took her to an empty parking lot, where he “began rubbing his penis through his clothes with his hand” and demanded oral sex from her.

When she refused, she claims Adams began to masturbate and ejaculated on her leg.

Adams has repeatedly denied the accusations and stoked doubt as to whether he worked with Beach-Mathura at the Transit Police Department at all.

It’s a sticking point for the accuser’s lawyers, who are relentlessly trying to nab employment records from the city to prove that the pair was employed at the same time. So far, they’ve come up empty.

“We have nothing,” said Charny & Wheeler attorney Nathaniel Charny, lamenting the city’s lack of production.

Leighton fought the request, insisting that the city doesn’t need to respond to the discovery request since the Transit Police Department was part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1993, not the city. For their part, Beach-Mathura’s side said they subpoenaed the MTA for that information, too.

Beach-Mathura is also seeking discovery related to any complaints against Adams’ administration over sexual harassment, sexual assault, quid pro quo or retaliation — as well as any information relating to Adams being accused of or charged with crimes.

Her lawyers agreed not to ask for information about Adams’ federal corruption indictment, in which the mayor was accused of taking bribes and illegal campaign donations in exchange for political favors for Turkish government officials. That case ended unceremoniously after the Trump administration forced federal prosecutors to drop it, a move that prompted multiple Justice Department resignations and speculation of a quid pro quo between Adams and President Donald Trump.

While Beach-Mathura won’t be seeking discovery related to that case, Charny said Tuesday that he does intend to potentially use the federal indictment to impeach Adams’ credibility.

Beach-Mathura, currently a Florida resident, filed for personal bankruptcy last year. Her bankruptcy trustee is now the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which names the mayor, the city, the NYPD and an African American patrolmen’s association Adams used to lead as defendants.

Adams is yet to be deposed. He’s currently campaigning for reelection on independent party lines after he abandoned his Democratic moniker earlier this year. His chances look slim — Adams is placing fourth in most polls behind Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent ex-governor Andrew Cuomo.

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