Timothy Pearson, who resigned from his position as Adams’ senior advisor in late 2024 amid multiple federal investigations, sexual assault suits, and city Department of Investigation probes, accused the Mamdani administration of acting improperly in dropping him as a client and asked the city to pick his defense back up and pay for any private attorney fees he’s incurred.
“The Revocation is arbitrary and capricious, affected by an error of law, and an abuse of discretion,” says Pearson’s suit, filed late Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court. “It rests on no good-faith determination that [Pearson] acted outside the scope of his public employment or in violation of any applicable rule or regulation of his agency, and it disregards the City’s own prior, considered determination that [Pearson] was entitled to a defense and indemnification.”
Mamdani-appointed Corporation Counsel Steven Banks terminated Pearson’s city-funded representation on March 13, saying he had determined Pearson was not eligible for the taxpayer-funded service. Banks noted that a person is entitled to city representation when the alleged act for which they are being sued is within the scope of their public employment, and sexual assault is not part of the job description.
“Based on my review of new evidence since the original decisions were made, I have determined that he is not entitled to representation by the City in these matters,” Banks said in a March statement. “Thus, the City will no longer pay for Mr. Pearson’s legal representation.”
When asked for a comment on Pearson’s suit, a spokesperson for the Law Department told amNewYork that the Corporation Counsel stands by his determination and will respond accordingly.
Pearson had previously filed court papers in his ongoing suits, arguing that the city should continue representing him, but Monday’s suit is a separate action aimed at compelling City Hall to resume its representation of him. It was filed on the last day he was legally allowed to under the statute of limitations.
It’s essentially the same tactic as the one Adams is using himself in an attempt to get Mamdani’s Law Department to continue representing him after it similarly dropped him as a client after determining Adams’ alleged sexual assault of a female NYPD officer, whom he served as a superior when he was on the police force in 1994, was not a work-related action.
That matter remains pending in Manhattan state Supreme Court.
The four suits the city dropped representation of Pearson in include allegations that he “regularly” sexually assaulted female officers and presided over a culture of sexual harassment in the NYPD.
One 2024 suit, filed by former NYPD Sergeant Roxanne Ludemann, alleges Pearson sexually assaulted and harassed her and others on the job and frequently touched and rubbed women in sexual ways.
Another suit, also filed in 2024 by former NYPD Deputy Chief Miltiadis Marmara, claimed that Marmara was retaliated against and fired for speaking up for and trying to protect female officers who had been harassed or assaulted by men in the department, including Pearson. The suit claims that agency leaders knew had allegations of assault against him when they put him into a leadership position. Marmara said he saw Pearson assault female officers.
A separate 2024 suit, filed by former NYPD Lieutenant George Huang, also accuses Pearson of frequently assaulting women in the department. And, another 2024 suit, filed by retired NYPD Sergeant Michael Ferrari, claims that Ferrari was also watched Pearson assault women in the department and was retaliated against when he backed a colleague’s sexual assault claims and tried to stand up for female officers.
Pearson is also accused of attempting to intimidate officers and suggesting he’d like to be given a profitable city contract in that suit.
Pearson has denied all allegations.
Banks and Mamdani also dropped the representation of Jeffrey Maddrey, who’s charged alongside Pearson in the suits. Maddrey was the NYPD chief under Adams, but also resigned in 2024 after allegations of sexual assault surfaced against him.
Maddrey was the target of a recent June FBI raid via a federal corruption probe.