A former NYPD employee, Lattina Brown, has alleged that her boss, Brian Adams, who claimed to be related to Mayor Adams, sexually harassed her by sitting on her desk visibly aroused. Brown claimed she was fired and subjected to retaliation after reporting his behavior.
Her woes began soon after she started her $70,000-a-year job as a citywide community coordinator in June 2022. Brown said that the harassment occurred after traveling with Adams to a meeting at Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s office, according to the New York Post.
She recalled that after she got out of her car, a woman she didn’t know intimated “You are very beautiful and I love your dress,” Brown said in court papers.
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In reaction, Adams allegedly inferred “That woman wasn’t trying to compliment you, she wants to sleep with you. You have women checking you out because you look good.”
After a meeting, Adams allegedly asked Brown if she was married and if she was “horny” while they were in the car. Brown said she “immediately felt concerned for her safety and felt traumatic flashbacks to a previous sexual assault she suffered.”
On June 21, 2022, Brown alleged that Adams sat on her desk, spread his legs, and displayed his erect penis through his pants. A nearby police officer noticed and Adams abruptly walked away. The officer then escorted Brown outside, where she informed them about the alleged harassment she had been experiencing.
The police officer urged Brown to file a complaint, which she eventually did. The lawsuit alleges that Adams boasted about being related to Mayor Eric Adams. However, the mayor’s office declined to comment on their relationship, and no evidence of such a connection was found in documents.
Adams declined to comment, but according to a police source, he denied the allegations, stating that Brown complained “after she knew she was getting fired.”
Brown, who had previously worked as a City Council staffer, reported a supervisor in Corey Johnson’s office for making disparaging remarks about minorities. She reported the alleged harassment by Adams to Police Commissioner Edward Caban, whom she knew from her community work.
Despite Brown’s calls to Caban about the conduct, the lawsuit claims he took no action. Another employee named in the suit, Arianna Dillon, allegedly informed Brown that Adams had subjected her to similar behavior.
