New York City Will Defend Mayor Adams in Sexual Assault Case – Taxpayers are covering the expenses for Mayor Eric Adams‘ legal defense against accusations of sexual assault. The New York City Law Department will provide legal representation for the mayor in response to a specific legal complaint dating back to his tenure as a transit police officer three decades ago.
Adams vehemently refuted on Tuesday, a day after the lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, any allegations that he coerced a former colleague into a sexual act in exchange for career advancement. However, he does not intend to retain private attorneys for the lawsuit. “He’s not going to be answering specifics of the complaint,” said the city’s corporation counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, who sat with the mayor at his weekly, wide-ranging news conference.
Hinds-Radix noted that city attorneys have a duty to represent employees of the transit bureau, which later merged with the NYPD. However, when questioned by reporters, she also admitted that they have discretion in selecting which cases to pursue. “The corporation counsel has, based on the law and the charter, the ability to evaluate and make the determination,” she said.
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“We get that question if a police officer is accused of having done something.” This case involves lawsuits filed against Adams, the City of New York, the NYPD’s transit bureau, the Guardians Association, and three unidentified entities under the state Adult Survivors Act. A former transit bureau employee claims that in 1993, Adams took her to an empty lot and demanded oral sex from her.
She further alleges that Adams retaliated against her by leveraging his influence to have her transferred to another department. Historically, the city Law Department has not always provided legal indemnification for police officers in cases involving sexual misconduct. State law maintains that the city shall defend its employees against allegations “within the scope of his public employment and in the discharge of his duties.”
“This needs scrutiny,” City Council Member Gale Brewer had posted on X, formerly Twitter, last November, when Adams said the corporation counsel would be representing him after a court filing was first made in the case. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Tuesday she would “review” the question of the mayor’s legal representation, but didn’t seem to have much of an appetite for the issue.
“I think Judge Radix answered the question a lot,” she said. “I’m going to stand right now with what corp counsel said in her response.” The city has an interest in the case, in part because it’s a co-defendant, Victor Kovner, a former New York City corporation counsel, said in an interview. “It is not unusual or atypical for the corporation counsel or city law department to defend the city and the employee,” he said. “There are some exceptions to that, but that’s the basic practice.”
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Adams rejected the sexual assault charges against him Tuesday as vehemently as he did in November. “This did not happen. It did not happen. I don’t ever recall meeting this person during my time in the police department,” the mayor said Thursday. He clarified later in the news conference that he said he doesn’t remember meeting the complainant, not that he never met her.
