MANHATTAN (CN) — A former New York Police Department employee accused Mayor Eric Adams of sexually assaulting her when she asked him for job advice more than three decades ago.
Lorna Beach-Mathura claims that, as a transit cop in 1993, Adams “demand[ed] a quid pro quo sexual favor” in exchange for helping her get a promotion, according to a 26-page lawsuit filed Monday in New York Supreme Court.
Beach-Mathura says she went to Adams for help after being passed over for promotions in the NYPD due to discrimination.
At the time, Adams was a top official for the Guardians Association, a group for Black police officers. Also a member, Beach-Mathura says she found Adams’ support for the Black community in the NYPD inspiring.
Adams offered to drive her home from work one night so they could talk about getting her a promotion, Beach-Mathura claims. That's when she noticed that Adams started driving the wrong direction, she says.
“Plaintiff asked defendant Adams why he was going in the opposite direction, and he responded that he wanted ‘to have time’ to talk with her,” Beach-Mathura claims in the suit.
Eventually, Adams pulled into vacant lot, Beach-Mathura says, where she began to grow “nervous and scared as she realized a dangerous situation she was in.”
Beach-Mathura says she tried to remain calm, reminding herself that Adams was a cop and a high-ranking Guardians member who was there to help her. She claims she started to talk about the promotion and how she had been discriminated against, but Adams “began rubbing his penis through his clothes with his hand” and demanded oral sex from her.
“Defendant Adams then said, in no uncertain terms, that he would help her but that he also needed a favor,” Beach-Mathura claims. “He told her that he ‘needed a blow job’ from her. While repeatedly cajoling, demanding, and begging plaintiff for oral sex, defendant Adams unzipped his pants and pulled out his erect penis.”
At one point, Beach-Mathura says Adams “assaulted plaintiff by grabbing her hand and placing it on his exposed, erect penis.” But she says she continued to reject his demands for sexual favors, adding that she acknowledged doing so might have made it even more difficult for her to advance in the workplace.
Adams proceeded to masturbate in front of Beach-Mathura, she says, as she sat in fear “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.”
After the assault was over, Beach-Mathura said Adams told her he needed to get back to work and he dropped her off at a subway station in Manhattan. She says he never helped her with her promotion issue and left city government the following year.
Beach-Mathura first came forward with her accusation in November 2023 when she filed a summons against Adams under the Adult Survivors Act, the law that gave New Yorkers a year to file sexual assault claims that otherwise fell outside of the statute of limitations. The details of the accusation were unknown until Beach-Mathura filed her complaint on Monday, however.
“While we review the complaint, the mayor fully denies these outrageous allegations and the events described here; we expect full vindication in court,” New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix said in a statement to Courthouse News. “Additionally, in 1993, Eric Adams was one of the most prominent public opponents of the racism within the NYPD, which is why the suit’s allegations that he had any sway over promotions of civilian employees is ludicrous.”
Adams also vehemently denied the accusation in November, when Beach-Mathura first filed the summons.
Attorney Megan Goddard, who represents Beach-Mathura in this litigation, told Courthouse News on Monday that she was "proud" of her client for going ahead with the suit.
“I am proud to file this complaint on behalf of my client, a woman whose strength astonishes me," Goddard said in a statement. "She knew that filing this lawsuit would cause her significant personal challenges but she did so nevertheless, because she believes sexual abusers must be held to account, no matter who they are. Her fearlessness and quest for justice are as inspiring as they are important.”
Beach-Mathura's claims include sexual assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She lists the City of New York, the NYPD Transit Bureau, the NYPD Guardians Association and three “unknown entities” as defendants on other counts.
Follow @Uebey
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
