City Attorneys Claim Hurricane Sandy Destroyed Personnel Records

City legal representatives have stated that the personnel files of Mayor Eric Adams were lost during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 when a flooding disaster damaged their storage facility. This assertion was made in a legal response related to a sexual assault lawsuit filed against Adams.

The lawsuit, filed by former NYPD employee Lorna Beach-Mathura, alleges that Adams assaulted her over thirty years ago. Beach-Mathura had requested employment records to demonstrate that she and Adams worked together at the time of the alleged incident, which Adams has denied.

In a letter filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, city attorneys explained that all physical records for Adams were destroyed when the Kingsland Avenue warehouse suffered extensive flood damage during Sandy. The claim also included a request for detailed documentation verifying that Adams’ employment files were stored at the affected site and were lost due to flooding.

However, critics have described this explanation as disingenuous. Beach-Mathura’s legal team argues that the timing of this disclosure appears suspicious, coming after over a year of requesting these records and nearly two years into litigation. Her lawyer, Siobhan Klassen, labeled the city’s response as an attempt to delay proceedings.

The legal dispute continues, with Beach-Mathura also seeking a sworn statement from the judge regarding the alleged destruction of the records. She is pursuing a $5 million damages claim, asserting that Adams demanded oral sex from her and engaged in improper behavior when she refused.

Adams’ private attorney has also contested the discovery process, claiming there are deficiencies in the evidence provided by Beach-Mathura. The city’s spokesperson stated that the New York Police Department confirmed no physical records of Adams’ employment existed after the Sandy flood.