New York City Mayor Eric Adams was accused of committing sexual assault in 1993, according to a new court summons filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
The summons were filed on Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Alongside Adams, the filing also names the New York Police Department’s transit bureau and the Guardian Association of the NYPD as defendants. News of the filing was first reported by the Messenger.
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According to the summons, the plaintiff — whom The Washington Post will not identify due to the nature of the case — was sexually assaulted by Adams in New York in 1993 while they both worked for the city. The plaintiff accuses Adams of sexual assault, battery and employment discrimination based on her gender and sex, as well as retaliation, hostile work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Adams, in a statement sent through a City Hall spokesman, denied knowing the plaintiff.
“The mayor does not know who this person is," the spokesman said. “If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it. But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim.”
A lawyer for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit against Adams and the two departments asks for “an amount to be determined at trial but in no event less than” $5 million, alongside attorneys’ fees and interest.
Adams, who became mayor in 2022, previously served as an officer for the New York City Transit Police and later the NYPD for over 20 years.
The mayor also is facing scrutiny over a political matter. Earlier this month, FBI agents seized electronic devices, including phones, belonging to the mayor, according to his campaign attorney. The seizures are connected to a federal investigation into fundraising during Adams’s 2021 campaign.
Adams’s attorney, Boyd Johnson, told The Washington Post that Adams was not accused of “any wrongdoing.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the Adult Survivors Act into law last year, giving adult sexual assault survivors up to one year to file a lawsuit against their alleged attacker, regardless of when the alleged violation happened. The act is modeled on New York’s Child Victims Act, which was signed in 2019 and offered a similar opportunity for survivors of child sexual abuse to file suits against their alleged abusers.
The window to file such lawsuits under the law expires on November 24, which means an avalanche of civil filings have been made over the last month against powerful figures. Earlier in the time window, men including former president Donald Trump and disgraced comedian Bill Cosby were amongst those accused under the law.
The summons were filed on Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Alongside Adams, the filing also names the New York Police Department’s transit bureau and the Guardian Association of the NYPD as defendants. News of the filing was first reported by the Messenger.
Keeping up with politics is easy with The 5-Minute Fix Newsletter, in your inbox weekdays.
According to the summons, the plaintiff — whom The Washington Post will not identify due to the nature of the case — was sexually assaulted by Adams in New York in 1993 while they both worked for the city. The plaintiff accuses Adams of sexual assault, battery and employment discrimination based on her gender and sex, as well as retaliation, hostile work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Adams, in a statement sent through a City Hall spokesman, denied knowing the plaintiff.
“The mayor does not know who this person is," the spokesman said. “If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it. But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim.”
A lawyer for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit against Adams and the two departments asks for “an amount to be determined at trial but in no event less than” $5 million, alongside attorneys’ fees and interest.
Adams, who became mayor in 2022, previously served as an officer for the New York City Transit Police and later the NYPD for over 20 years.
The mayor also is facing scrutiny over a political matter. Earlier this month, FBI agents seized electronic devices, including phones, belonging to the mayor, according to his campaign attorney. The seizures are connected to a federal investigation into fundraising during Adams’s 2021 campaign.
Adams’s attorney, Boyd Johnson, told The Washington Post that Adams was not accused of “any wrongdoing.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the Adult Survivors Act into law last year, giving adult sexual assault survivors up to one year to file a lawsuit against their alleged attacker, regardless of when the alleged violation happened. The act is modeled on New York’s Child Victims Act, which was signed in 2019 and offered a similar opportunity for survivors of child sexual abuse to file suits against their alleged abusers.
The window to file such lawsuits under the law expires on November 24, which means an avalanche of civil filings have been made over the last month against powerful figures. Earlier in the time window, men including former president Donald Trump and disgraced comedian Bill Cosby were amongst those accused under the law.
