A recently retired NYPD sergeant alleges in a lawsuit that Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to Mayor Adams, repeatedly touched her inappropriately, asked her sexually suggestive questions and then blocked her promotion when she spurned his advances.
Roxanne Ludemann was working in a special mayoral unit that examined the performance of city agencies in 2022 and 2023 when Pearson caressed her arms and shoulders up to 20 different times, asked about her marital status and cornered her for improper chats, her lawsuit alleges.
After her superior, NYPD Deputy Chief Miltiadis “Milt” Marmara, witnessed Pearson rubbing Ludemann’s arm at a December 2022 office party, he urged her to file a complaint and later stood up for her when Pearson blocked her promotion in 2023, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit claims Pearson got Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey involved. Ludemann was then bounced to four different commands in six months and placed under investigation. Fed up, she retired in December.
“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,” Ludemann, 43, told the Daily News.
The lawsuit, filed in Supreme Court in New York Thursday, names Pearson, Maddrey, Internal Affairs Inspector Joseph Profeta and the city as defendants.
Pearson, assigned to the city Economic Development Corp. making $244,000 a year, has been at the center of controversy in the past for earning a salary from the Resorts World Casino in Queens while working for the mayor and getting into a scuffle with security guards at a Midtown migrant shelter.
Ludemann’s lawyer John Scola said Pearson used “his power within City Hall” to end a career based on Ludemann’s spurning his advances. “Mayor Adams must act swiftly to remove Mr. Pearson from office,” Scola told The News.
Pearson did not reply to a call and text messages.
A City Hall statement said that “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.”
An NYPD spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation, saying, “The department does not tolerate discrimination or sexual harassment in any form and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce.”
Ludemann, a mom of four, said she joined the NYPD in 2004 after a stint with the National Guard at Ground Zero in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. She served in multiple commands including the 113th Precinct in Queens.
In June 2022, she was tapped as Marmara’s chief of staff in the the Office of Municipal Services Assessment. The unit reported to Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks, and Ludemann’s post meant she was working close to some of the highest-ranking officials in the Adams administration.
Pearson often sat in on the unit’s meetings, she said. “He was a very handsy person. He would touch me on the arm, the shoulder, my back,” Ludemann said.
“He would ask me if I’m single or married, am I happy in the relationship,” she said. “I didn’t feel comfortable asking him not to speak to me like that. Milt would try to keep him focused on the work.”
Banks, she alleges, promised her a promotion to sergeant special assignment. In October 2022, Pearson took over from Banks and the unit moved to Queens.
“Whenever my chief [Marmara] would go to the bathroom, Pearson would slide his chair close to me, talk very close,” Ludemann said. “It was uncomfortable.”
Pearson told her if she wanted to be promoted, she would have to work as his driver, the lawsuit alleges. Ludemann felt the offer carried sexual overtones and she refused.
On Dec. 1, 2022 during an office party, Pearson called her into a photocopying room under the pretext of talking about office plans. He began rubbing her shoulder, the lawsuit alleges.
“He’s rubbing down my shoulder and arm,” she said. “[Marmara] comes in and he immediately pulls back.”
Marmara wanted to report Pearson’s behavior, but Ludemann begged him not to because it would be “career suicide,” the lawsuit alleges.
In early December 2022, the lawsuit alleges, Ludemann’s name made a promotion list sent to City Hall for approval. But that Dec. 21, Ludemann learned that Pearson had removed her name from the list.
On March 25, 2023, Pearson told Marmara that Ludemann had to work for Pearson to get promoted, the lawsuit alleges. Weeks later, Marmara and Pearson argued again over her promotion, the lawsuit alleges.
Marmara, a 32-year NYPD veteran, was reassigned to Brooklyn North after the confrontation. He did not return messages from The News.
The sequence caused a staff revolt the next day. Ludemann and three other cops in the unit requested transfers, she alleges.
Pearson declared he would “end their careers” if they left, the lawsuit claims.
On April 17, Ludemann was escorted out of the unit’s office and sent to patrol, which was a demotion, the lawsuit claims.
“I’ve no clue how to fight someone so powerful — someone who has more power than any city commissioner including the NYPD police commissioner,” Ludemann wrote in an April 24 e-mail to Adams adviser Marjorie Landa, referring to Pearson.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
Timothy Pearson is pictured behind Mayor Adams on Jan. 1, 2022. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Over the next several months, Ludemann was bounced to four different commands. On May 30, 2023, she was locked out of the NYPD computers. A week later, Internal Affairs confiscated her phone. In July, she was ordered to sit in a room alone for three days, the lawsuit alleges.
On Aug. 1, the NYPD filed minor misconduct charges against her for behavior unbecoming and a failure to follow orders. Profeta, the Internal Affairs inspector, then asked her sexually charged questions in a formal interview with her on Aug. 16, the lawsuit alleges.
“We believe this was all on the orders of Pearson,” Scola said.
By December, Ludemann had had enough. She filed for retirement and was granted it in good standing.
Ludemann claims she lost more than $2 million in future wages because of the retaliation.
“You give so many years to the organization and they always say they have your back,” Ludemann said. “But we found out that’s not the case. You see what’s really behind the curtain.”
Mayor Adams is facing his own sexual harassment controversy after retired cop Lorna Beach-Mathura alleged this week in a lawsuit that he tried to get her to perform a sex act on him back in 1993 in return for career help.
