The NYPD chief answerable for Manhattan above 59th Avenue held a contest for “best dressed,” focusing on feminine cops, with a $700 prize throughout a 2023 vacation get together, claiming he had approval from the division’s Authorized Bureau, in keeping with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed Friday.
Assistant Chief Ruel Stephenson of Patrol Borough Manhattan North served as a “judge” of the competition on Dec. 13, 2023 on the Glen Island Harbor Membership in New Rochelle, going from desk to desk appraising feminine cops in plunging robes underneath his command.
The allegations emerged in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan state courtroom by Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo, who claims Stephenson sexually harassed her in 2022 after which tried to derail her profession after she rebuffed his advances.
“There was no prize for best dressed man,” mentioned Matos-Leo of the vacation get together contest.
In line with a legislation enforcement supply, the NYPD Authorized Bureau was neither conscious of nor permitted the competition, however the division’s separate Workplace of Fairness and Inclusion was consulted and did approve it.
Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)
Matos-Leo’s lawsuit activates her declare that after she ignored Stephenson’s repeated invites one yr earlier to the command’s 2022 vacation get together, he mounted a marketing campaign of criticism of her work that price her higher assignments and made her life depressing.
Matos-Leo’s lawyer John Scola says the case is one other instance of the NYPD’s “longstanding culture of sexual harassment and retaliation.”
“A ‘best dressed’ contest for women at a workplace event sends a clear message that career advancement isn’t based on merit but on catering to the boss’s personal desires,” Scola mentioned.
“It forces women into an impossible choice, either sexualize themselves to stay in favor or risk retaliation, just like Lt. Matos-Leo.”
In an announcement, an NYPD spokesperson declined to touch upon the lawsuit however mentioned, “The department does not tolerate sexual harassment and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce. The NYPD thoroughly investigates all complaints it receives, and offers several reporting options for NYPD employees, including anonymously.”
Matos-Leo, 40, joined the NYPD in 2006. She was promoted to sergeant in 2015.
In 2019, she sued the NYPD over a fancy saga involving an allegedly abusive boyfriend, who was additionally a police officer, claiming different cops retaliated in opposition to her for submitting a prison grievance in opposition to the boyfriend, courtroom data present.
The town settled that lawsuit in 2023 for $60,000, Scola mentioned.
In October 2022, Matos-Leo was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the twenty fourth Precinct on the Higher West Aspect, the place Stephenson’s workplace can also be housed.
Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo, proper, is pictured with former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell throughout a promotion ceremony. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)
Quickly after she arrived, she says, Stephenson was solicitous underneath the guise of inviting her to the upcoming vacation get together a number of weeks away.
“He took my hand and introduced himself and told me to see him if I ever needed anything, and then told his driver, ‘We’ve got to tell her about the party,’” she mentioned. “He was holding my hand the whole time.”
“After that, every time I saw him, he would say, ‘Don’t forget, you have to come to my party,’ Or he would tell his driver to remind me.”
Matos-Leo was so uncomfortable on the consideration she skipped the get together.
Stephenson’s method towards her then modified, she alleges. “This is how the chief gets when he is rejected,” a fellow sergeant informed her, the lawsuit claims.
Stephenson started criticizing her work in entrance of different supervisors. In an April 2023 citywide assembly, he pointed to Matos-Leo and mentioned, “This is what not to do as a supervisor.”
Ruel Stephenson (proper), then-commanding officer of the NYPD’s forty seventh Precinct within the Bronx, is promoted to Deputy Chief by Police Commissioner James O’Neill (left) at police headquarters on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. (Jefferson Siegel / New York Every day Information)
A lieutenant inadvertently left his microphone on and mentioned, “Why is this man being such a d–k to this girl?”
Stephenson overheard the comment and demanded to know who made it. That lieutenant was later disciplined, the lawsuit claims.
In a Could 2023 assembly, Stephenson informed Matos-Leo “If he had the power, he would fire her because her work is mediocre,” the lawsuit mentioned.
“It got to the point where people recognized me,” she mentioned. “Everyone knew he would take any chance to drag me through the mud.”
After that, Matos-Leo started placing in for transfers to numerous different items.
The flyer is for the 2023 vacation get together the place this contest was held. (Obtained by Every day Information)
Matos-Leo additionally discovered herself underneath the microscope from commanders who both labored underneath Stephenson or beforehand labored for him. “He’s the top dog and so it follows you,” she mentioned. “He persuades them that you are crazy or incompetent and your rep gets destroyed.”
In February 2024, Inspector Kevin Taylor was transferred from command of the College Security Division to work underneath Stephenson. He’d later be positioned on desk responsibility and needed to give up his telephones amid a sequence of corruption investigations that embroiled the Adams administration; Taylor has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Taylor demanded Matos-Leo salute him each time she noticed him even when he had simply emerged from the fitness center, she claims. He additionally ordered her to write down down each order she gave cops underneath her command, the go well with says.
In Could, she requested for a switch to one of many Transit Bureau, however particularly requested to not be transferred to Transit District 4 at Union Sq.. She was transferred there anyway in June.
On the transit district, Matos-Leo received right into a working battle with a feminine sergeant underneath her command who’s near the unit commander, Deputy Inspector Joseph Pulgarin, the go well with alleges.
The sergeant allegedly ignored Matos-Leo’s orders at occasions and generally referred to as her “crazy” or in any other case made enjoyable of her.
At one level she tried to self-discipline the sergeant, however Pulgarin, who beforehand labored underneath Stephenson, blocked it.
Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)
In September, she met with Pulgarin, however the commander once more refused to self-discipline the sergeant, the lawsuit says.
“That’s when I decided to sue,” she mentioned. “I did not want to go to this command. I have been so beat up and disrespected, I had enough. I was just going to retire, but now I’m determined to fight to be heard.”
Matos-Leo claims Stephenson’s alleged retaliation triggered her to make lower than male lieutenants and value her as a lot as $1.7 million in misplaced pension advantages, the lawsuit alleges.
Matos-Leo can retire when she hits 20 years of service in 2026. For now, she is bouncing forwards and backwards between her uncomfortable work state of affairs and her younger kids, an 11-year-old son with autism and a seven-year-old daughter with lupus.
“It takes a lot of strength to deal with this,” she mentioned. “If you go to work and show any emotion, I could potentially lose everything.”
Initially Printed: February 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM EST
