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Where Mayor Adams’ sexual assault case stands after one year
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Nov 28, 2024
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Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Nov 28, 2024
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There are still a few months until the federal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to head to trial, but an unrelated sexual assault lawsuit filed against the mayor a year ago has quietly moved forward, threatening to damage his re-election prospects and cost him and the city millions of dollars.
On the night before Thanksgiving last year, Lorna Beach-Mathura, a former transit police officer, filed a civil lawsuit accusing Adams of sexually assaulting her in 1993. She sued under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York state law that opened a one-year window that allowed people to seek civil damages for sexual assault allegations after the criminal statute of limitations had expired. The window closed in November 2023.
Beach-Mathura said Adams demanded oral sex in exchange for helping her advance in her career, according to her complaint. The mayor has vehemently denied the allegations.
The case in state Supreme Court has since been overshadowed by the federal one, but it still carries significant potential consequences. And unlike in his federal case, city taxpayers are footing the bill for Adams’ defense: He’s being defended in the suit by the city’s Law Department.
Beach-Mathura is seeking $5 million in damages. Adams’ attorneys have said they do not intend to settle.
Here are the latest developments.
The accuser appeared for a deposition on Nov. 20
Beach-Mathura was ordered by a judge to appear for a deposition in Manhattan on Nov. 20, or have the case dismissed. Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the city’s Law Department, confirmed that she showed up.
Depositions, in which individuals are interviewed under oath, are part of the discovery process. They are generally confidential but can become public when filed in court as evidence, or if a judge orders them to become part of the public record.
Beach-Mathura’s deposition came after a long delay and back-and-forth with Adams’ attorneys. After she missed a Sept. 6 deposition, defense attorney Alex Spiro, who was then representing the mayor in the case, asked a judge to dismiss her claim.
“In the nearly 10 months since Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit, she has refused to appear for her deposition on four separate occasions, and each time without any justification under the law,” Spiro wrote.
Beach-Mathura later said in a court filing that she had missed the deposition because of an anxiety attack that led her to seek medical attention. She said efforts by Adams’ lawyers to discredit her had led her to suffer “great emotional distress and anxiety.”
Adams’ high-profile attorney is no longer on the case
Spiro, whose clients have included Elon Musk, Jay-Z and Alec Baldwin, was brought on by the city’s Law Department to defend the mayor. News of the splashy hiring raised eyebrows, but city officials said they sometimes retain outside firms to help with litigation. While Spiro is known to charge $2,000 an hour, the city’s Law Department said it typically pays $250 an hour for partners.
In October, Spiro suddenly withdrew from defending the mayor in the sexual assault case. By then, he was also on a team of lawyers helping Adams fight federal corruption charges. In a court filing, Spiro said the city's Conflicts of Interest Board had expressed concerns that he was representing Adams in both the civil and criminal cases, but he did not elaborate. The board also declined to explain the matter, saying it does not comment on confidential communications to public servants.
The case is currently being handled by Muriel Goode-Trufant, the city’s corporation counsel who heads the Law Department.
The two parties are still engaged in discovery, where they request information and documents from one another. The process can take several months.
The accuser tried to go public two years before her lawsuit
In September, Beach-Mathura’s attorney entered two emails into the case record that she had sent to Andrew Yang’s campaign and the New York Post in June 2021, during the mayoral race. Both emails included the same details that later emerged in her legal complaint.
“Eric Adams proudly talks about his career and professional accomplishments in the NYPD. Yet, I haven’t heard him talk about his sexual harassment of a coworker when he was a detective,” she wrote in the email to the Post. “Sexual harassment in the police department was real.”
Beach-Mathura’s lawyer had also told the court that her client had told nine people about the alleged incident with Adams. She told seven of them before the Adult Survivors Act went into effect in 2022, according to the court filing.
Her attempts to share her allegations before the Adult Survivors Act could be crucial to establishing her credibility, which Adams’ attorneys have questioned.
Tagged
new york city
Adams investigations
Politics
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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