Top Eric Adams aide accused of sexual harassment by former sergeant who says she was threatened and passed over for promotions when she protested his advances

A retired New York Police Department sergeant has alleged in a recently filed lawsuit that a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams repeatedly sexually harassed her and subsequently stopped her from receiving a promotion.

While Roxanne Ludemann, 43, was working in a special mayoral unit of the department that examined the performance of city agencies, Timothy Pearson caressed her arms and shoulders on some 20 occasions, and asked her about her marital status.

Pearson, formerly of the NYPD, now works for the Economic Development Corporation, but also oversees security in migrant shelters for City Hall and makes decisions about the NYPD, according to local reports.

He is rarely seen in public, but reportedly has the ear of NYC Mayor Eric Adams - who is currently facing his own claims of sexual assault - on a variety of subject matters. 

According to her lawsuit, in 2022 and 2023, superiors of Ludemann's witnessed Pearson's inappropriate behavior and encouraged her to file a complaint.

Top adviser to NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Timothy Pearson (pictured) has been accused of sexually harassing and retaliating against a female NYPD officer

Roxanne Ludemann retired early last December after being shuffled around and placed under investigation following her decision to stand up to Pearson, who allegedly sexually harassed her on many occasions when he oversaw her department

Pearson, however, then allegedly retaliated by getting Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey involved, which resulted in Ludemann's assignment being shuffled around. She was also placed under investigation after being blocked from a promotion in 2023.

Last December, Ludemann had had enough and opted to retire instead of allowing the department to continue knocking her around.

She told the New York Daily News that she filed the suit because 'I want what happened to come to light - that it started with me saying ‘no’ and doing the right thing, and the NYPD allowed this man to destroy my career and traumatize me.'

The suit was filed in New York Supreme Court on Thursday and names Pearson, Maddrey, Internal Affairs Inspector Joseph Profeta, and the city of New York as defendants.

John Scola, an attorney for Ludemann, said that Pearson has used his considerable power within City Hall to end the career of his client because she rejected his advances.

'Mayor Adams must act swiftly to remove Mr. Pearson from office,' Scola said.

Pearson is currently receiving a salary of $244,000 for his position at the Economic Development Corporation.

City Hall said in a statement: 'We will review any lawsuit if and when it is filed, but the allegations were referred to City Hall’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity which conducted outreach on multiple occasions to the individual making these claims. 

'The individual chose not to cooperate in any investigation and, thus, none of her claims could be substantiated,' the spokesperson concluded.

The NYPD said it does not 'tolerate discrimination or sexual harassment in any form and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce.'

Pearson (far right) is a top City Hall adviser to Adams (center). The specifics of his role are somewhat murky, but on paper he oversees security at migrant shelters for City Hall

Ludemann (far right) said alleges in a suit filed Thursday in New York Supreme Court that Pearson retaliated against her, and her former supervisor, who stood up for his employee

Pearson (second from left) reportedly wields significant power in City Hall, which allowed him to deny Ludemann a promised promotion seemingly because she had rejected his advances

The now-retired sergeant is a mother of four who joined the department after serving in the National Guard, where she was positioned at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11.

Ludemann began working around Pearson in mid-2022. He would sit in on her unit's meetings.

She described him as 'a very handsy person. He would touch me on the arm, the shoulder, my back.'

'He would ask me if I’m single or married, am I happy in the relationship. I didn’t feel comfortable asking him not to speak to me like that. Milt (her superior who encouraged her to file a complaint) would try to keep him focused on the work.'

'Whenever my chief [Milt Marmara] would go to the bathroom, Pearson would slide his chair close to me, talk very close. It was uncomfortable,' she said.

Ludemann says she had been promised a promotion to sergeant special assignment, but when Pearson took over the department in October of 2022, he told her she would have to work as his driver if she wanted the job. 

The suit alleges that Ludemann felt the offer carried sexual overtones, and so she refused.

At an officer party, Milt walked into a photocopying room where Pearson had allegedly been touching Ludemann inappropriately and told her he wanted to report Pearson's behavior.

Ludemann asked him not to because it would be 'career suicide.'

Ludemann's attorney said that Adams must act quickly to strip Pearson of his role, privileges, and power. Pearson is under investigation for a number of other incidents having to do with his conduct at migrant shelters late last year

Ludemann is suing the city, Pearson, and several others, claiming she has lost out on some $2million in future earnings because of the retaliation that forced her into early retirement

Soon after, Ludemann found out that her name had been removed from a promotion list by Pearson.

Marmara, who's worked on the force for more than three-decades, fought for Ludemann's promotion with Pearson and was eventually reassigned to a different location after the confrontation. 

Following the retaliation against Marmara, Ludemann and three other cops in the unit requested transfers, she said.

The lawsuit claims Pearson threatened to 'end their careers' if they left.

Ludemann was demoted in April of 2023.

That same month she wrote an email to Marjorie Landa, another adviser to Mayor Adams: 'I’ve no clue how to fight someone so powerful - someone who has more power than any city commissioner including the NYPD police commissioner.'

Several months later, Ludemann was allegedly locked out of NYPD computers, which was followed by Internal Affairs seizing her phone. 

In July of 2023, she was allegedly made to sit in a room alone for several days. Weeks later, the NYPD filed minor misconduct charges against her for failing to follow orders and unbecoming behavior.

In a formal interview with Internal Affairs on August 16, Ludemann alleges that Profeta asked her sexually charged questions, which her attorney believes occurred on the orders of Pearson.

Several months later, Ludemann filed for retirement, a request that was granted in good standing. She is now claiming in her suit that she lost out on more than $2million in future earnings because of the retaliation to her reports of harassment.