A new sexual harassment lawsuit against one of Mayor Eric Adams’ closest advisers is alleging a culture of misogyny and sexual harassment within the NYPD — a department that has faced numerous reports of sexism and gender discrimination against women.
Roxanne Ludemann, a now retired sergeant who worked in a special mayoral unit monitoring city agencies, has accused Timothy Pearson of making repeated sexual advances and blocking her promotion after she rebuffed him. The civil lawsuit was first reported on Thursday by the Daily News and goes into great detail, not only around Ludemann’s experiences, but potentially corroborating experiences of other women in the department.
The 55-page complaint paints Pearson as a known sexual harasser, regularly rubbing the shoulders and arms of women in a special NYPD unit and making lewd gestures that included licking his lips and opening his legs “in an overtly sexual way.”
The suit names two other women who Pearson also allegedly sexually harassed.
Pearson’s behavior — which included an offer to help Ludemann advance her career in return for a sexual relationship — were “commonplace” tactics used to harass women within the NYPD, where fighting the abuse was futile, according to the suit.
Pearson did not respond to a request for comment. Both the NYPD and mayor’s office declined to comment on the specific allegations as well as the department’s culture.
“We will review the lawsuit and respond in court,” said Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for Adams.
The lawsuit echoes stories of other women in male-dominated industries, including tech and Wall Street. It sheds light on an often opaque department that has been hit with numerous sexual misconduct complaints and where female police account for only about 20% of the 34,000-member force.
The accusations comes less than a year after Keechant Sewell, the city’s first woman police commissioner, abruptly resigned amid reports that she was being undermined by the…
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