Thomas Donlon, the former interim commissioner of the New York Police Department, has filed a $10 million notice of claim against the city of New York, Mayor Eric Adams and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, alleging a coordinated effort to defame him following his allegations of corruption within the NYPD and City Hall.
The notice of claim, a required step before suing a city agency in New York, was filed days after Donlon brought a civil lawsuit in federal court that accuses the Adams administration of engaging in racketeering, civil rights violations and retaliation against whistleblowers.
The civil suit alleges a pattern of fraudulent promotions, internal misconduct and obstruction of justice within the department.
In his new claim filed Monday morning, Donlon asserts that city officials retaliated with a “character assassination” after the federal lawsuit was filed.
Donlon accuses Sheppard of making false public statements during a television interview, including claims that Donlon’s phones had been seized by federal investigators and that he suffered from cognitive issues. Adams later echoed those comments, publicly questioning Donlon’s mental fitness and suggesting he had been dismissed for refusing to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Donlon disputes those assertions, saying in the filing that his phones were never seized and that no such evaluation was ever requested.
He also asserts that following his removal as interim commissioner in April, Adams appointed him as a senior adviser for public safety. Donlon argues that undermines the narrative that he was unfit to serve.
Adams at an unrelated press conference on Monday appeared to suggest Donlon’s lawsuit was put together haphazardly, saying, “I know many of you won’t talk about it, but if you see the original report, the original complaint, you see the misspells, you see the [grammatical] errors, you see the space. It was a rush. And so, this will be handled out in court.”