A former cop has accused one of Mayor Eric Adams’ top aides, Timothy Pearson, of sexually harassing her and then blocking her career advancement in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
The plaintiff, Roxanne Ludemann, alleges that Pearson regularly subjected her to uninvited touching and inappropriate conversations during 2022 and 2023 and then prevented her career trajectory from moving forward after she rejected his advances.
“Plaintiff was denied employment on the basis of her sex and gender, sexually harassed, forced to work in a hostile work environment, and retaliated against for lawfully protected complaints of said discrimination,” the legal filing reads.
Ludemann, who retired late last year due to the alleged conduct, is seeking unspecified monetary damages for the lost income which, she says, she would have made continuing to work for the NYPD at a higher rank, along with increased pension benefits and attorneys’ fees.
Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector, appears to wear many hats in the Adams administration, including as a senior adviser who works on issues like public safety and the migrant crisis as well as an employee of the semi-public New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
In addition to Pearson, the suit, which was filed in New York County Supreme Court on March 21, names the city of New York, NYCEDC and NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey as defendants.
City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus declined to respond to the suit in a Friday statement, instead saying “we will review the lawsuit and respond in court.”
That differed from a previous statement she gave to Politico New York on Thursday, after the suit was first reported by the Daily News, but before it was officially filed, where City Hall defended Pearson.
“Tim Pearson has had a long and distinguished career in both the public and private sectors, where he has spent decades keeping New Yorkers safe, including on Sept. 11, 2001,” she told the outlet. “The allegations were referred to City Hall’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity which conducted outreach on multiple occasions to the individual making these claims. The individual chose not to cooperate in any investigation and, thus, none of her claims could be substantiated.”
According to the suit, the alleged harassment took place while Ludemann was serving as chief of staff to NYPD Chief Miltiadis Marmara in a recently created office within City Hall known as the “Municipal Services Assessment” unit, which was tasked with quality assurance for city agencies.
Pearson was appointed to oversee the office in October 2022, after reportedly being forced to resign another position he held as head of security for Resorts World Casino New York City in Queens.
Ludemann alleges that Pearson would regularly ask women in the office, including herself, “sexually driven” questions, including inquiring about her marital status, if she was happy in her relationship and whether or not she lived alone.
Additionally, Pearson on multiple occasions asked Lubemann to be his driver “in order to gain private access to her to continue to [sexually] harass Plaintiff,” the suit alleges — an overture that she always refused. In one instance, Ludemann alleges that Pearson demanded she become his driver in exchange for a promotion she was seeking to the rank of sergeant special assignment.
“Plaintiff took Defendant PEARSON’s offer to mean, if you have sex with me then I will get you promoted to Sergeant Special Assignment,” the filing reads.
While Pearson’s advances were “never welcomed” by Ludemann, the filing says, she felt “powerless” to stop it due to his high-ranking position.
On top of that, Ludemann alleges that Pearson would put his hands on the shoulders, backs and arms of female subordinates, including herself, and rub them while speaking to them. During one incident at an office party in late 2022, Pearson allegedly cornered Ludemann and rubbed her shoulders, only stopping when Marmara happened to walk into the room.
After Marmara witnessed the incident, the suit says, he wanted to file a complaint about it with the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, but ultimately did not at the behest of Ludemann, who worried it would be “career suicide.”
Following Ludemann’s multiple refusals of Pearson’s advances, she alleges she was denied the promotion she was seeking several times. After her sexual harassment allegations became known to higher-ups within City Hall and the NYPD, the suit alleges, Ludemann was demoted to a patrol rank, moved around from assignment to assignment and denied overtime by Maddrey at Pearson’s behest.
Ludemann then retired from the NYPD in December at the age of 44.
“Plaintiff did not want to retire from the NYPD at that time but was forced to retire as the abuse, lack of promotional opportunities, harassment, lack of overtime, disparate treatment and retaliation became so severe that Plaintiff felt compelled to retire,” the suit reads.
The complaint comes just three days after the details of a separate lawsuit against Mayor Adams himself, for sexual assault, under the Adult Survivors Act, were revealed.
Adams is accused by a former NYPD colleague of demanding she perform oral sex on him in exchange for help with securing a promotion and assaulting her when she refused. He fiercely denies the allegations.
“It did not happen, I don’t recall ever meeting this person during my time in the Police Department,” Adams said during a Tuesday news conference. “For almost 20 years now, I have been one of the most public faces in the city and I’ve always carried myself with the level of dignity that New Yorkers expect from me.”
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