Legal cost to taxpayers of representing Mayor Adams adviser Tim Pearson in sex harass lawsuits tops $50K
NEW YORK — In four months, the cost to taxpayers for a private law firm to represent senior mayoral adviser Timothy Pearson in sexual harassment and retaliation claims filed against him by four current and former cops, including an NYPD chief, has climbed to more than $50,000, the Law Department confirmed to the New York Daily News.
As of late Monday, the city has shelled out $53,982 to the law firm Wilson Elser to represent Pearson in the lawsuits filed by cops assigned to the Mayor’s Municipal Services Assessment unit in 2022 and 2023, according to a Law Department tally.
Retired Sgt. Roxanne Ludemann filed her suit against Pearson on March 21, followed by retired Sgt. Michael Ferrari on April 17, active duty Lt. George Huang on June 6 and active duty Deputy Chief Milt Marmara on July 30.
So far, John Flannery, the Wilson Elser lawyer handling the cases for Pearson, has filed two boilerplate legal responses, known as “answers,” to the Ludemann and Ferrari lawsuits. No responses have been filed in the Huang and Marmara cases.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be spending one dime to protect someone who has egregiously violated city rules,” Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler said Tuesday. “In light of deeply troubling allegations against Tim Pearson, he should have been placed on a leave — but no proper investigation was conducted and instead the mayor decided Pearson deserves a free white-shoe defense attorney.”
The Law Department determined earlier this year Pearson was entitled to city-funded legal representation in all four cases because it said the accusations against him relate to his official duties. However, instead of having city lawyers represent him, the Law Department allowed Pearson to be repped by Wilson Elser at no personal cost to him due to a conflict in the agency representing Ludemann in a separate case.
Ludemann alleges Pearson, a public safety adviser to Mayor Eric Adams known to wield significant power in his administration, verbally harassed her multiple times and caressed her arm during a Dec. 1, 2022, office gathering. When she rebuffed him, he blocked her promotion in retaliation, court papers say. Ferrari and Huang say they backed up her allegations and were also marooned in dead-end assignments.
Marmara’s lawsuit alleges Pearson retaliated again him after he fought to get Ludemann promoted. Marmara claims he repeatedly notified Bernard Adams, the mayor’s brother, and a roster of high-level administration officials of Pearson’s conduct, but that they did nothing.
During an early May hearing, Restler sharply questioned administration officials on why they didn’t delve more aggressively into Ludemann’s allegations. The mayor’s lawyer Lisa Zornberg demanded he be censured, but Council Speaker Adrienne Adams rebuffed the demand.
When asked Tuesday, Mayor Adams declined to say when he first learned of the allegations against Pearson.
“When it comes down to the question you asked me about Tim Pearson, that’s under review, and I don’t want to do anything to interfere with the review, and let that review take its course,” he said.
Neither Adams nor his press office would say what “review” he was referencing. The city Department of Investigation is conducting a probe of the allegations, which it opened in June.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau has also been conducting an investigation that Flannery has claimed is directed at Marmara and the three other plaintiffs rather than Pearson.
Three of the lawsuits also name Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and Internal Affairs Inspector Joseph Profeta. Marmara’s lawsuit names NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, but not Profeta.
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