Lawsuit accuses Eric Adams of sexual abuse three decades ago

A Florida woman filed a lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams in Manhattan on Wednesday, accusing him of sexually assaulting her in 1993 and seeking $5 million in damages.

The lawsuit provides no details about events that occurred decades ago when the mayor was a member of the police force. Mr Adams denied the central claim.

“People know my character. They see how I am, how I carry myself,” the mayor told reporters on Thursday, adding: “This never happened and I don’t remember ever meeting the prosecutor.”

The lawsuit, which also names police as defendants, was filed under the Adult Survivors Act. The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, provided a one-year period during which people could file lawsuits alleging sexual assault that may have occurred years or decades ago. The suit against the woman was filed in New York Supreme Court just before the law’s grace period was set to expire on Friday.

The Times does not typically identify people who claim to have been victims of sexual violence.

In addition to assault, the woman also accuses Mr. Adams and the department of employment discrimination, retaliation, a hostile work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plaintiff said in the lawsuit that she and Mr. Adams were both employees of the city. In 1993, Mr. Adams was an officer with the police transit agency, which is also a defendant in the lawsuit. He joined the department itself in 1995, after the transit agency was merged into the larger agency.

The prosecutor could not be reached for comment. Her attorney in New York, Megan Goddard, did not return calls and emails requesting comment for this story.

The lawsuit is not the plaintiff’s first. In 2008, she sued American Airlines, alleging that an employee caused her to fall out of a wheelchair and injure her back. After four days of trial, a jury decided in favor of the airline.

She sued the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Board in 2009, alleging she was denied compensation after she was assaulted by a student. She lost at trial and subsequently appealed parts of the decision to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, where she won several procedural motions but failed to win a new trial.

Last year, prosecutors sued a Florida casino, alleging the company was negligent in maintaining its facilities after a patron attacked her with such force that she feared “she was under a ‘demonic attack.'” , the lawsuit said. That case is unsolved.