Civil NYPD sexual harassment suit seeks to add Jeffrey Maddrey, Eddie Caban as defendants

A New York City Police Department captain is seeking to add NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and former Police Commissioner Edward Caban as defendents in her ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit against a top chief. 

Capt. Gabrielle Walls alleges that starting in 2015, she endured repeated unwanted advances from Maddrey, including him attempting to kiss her more than a dozen times without her consent, according to a cross motion filed Wednesday in a Manhattan Supreme Court. Walls also alleged that Maddrey made up excuses to visit her at the 88th precinct where she’d worked as a lieutenant at the time, forcing her to hide in her office with the door locked and the lights off. 

The initial lawsuit, which alleged that Assistant Chief Scott Henderson repeatedly passed Walls over for a promotion because she rebuffed his advance to kiss her, was first reported by the Daily News in July. The original complaint mentioned alleged misconduct from Maddrey, but did not name him as a defendant. In addition to seeking to add Maddrey and Caban as defendents, Wednesday's motion also charges that sexual harassment is deeply entrenched in the NYPD’s culture – to the point that “misconduct by male executives is routinely ignored – and at times rewarded – by leadership.” Maddrey and Henderson weaponized the culture and used it against Walls, the motion alleges. It claims Caban helped perpetuate gender discrimination within the NYPD by failing to appoint women to prominent positions and more specifically, failing to take corrective action despite knowing about the sexual harassment Walls endured. The initial lawsuit also named the city of New York as a defendant.

“Originally, we just bought the case against the city and Scott Henderson, after we filed the case and served the city, the city took no action whatsoever to correct the sexual harassment,” Walls’ attorney John Scola told City & State. “Now we're seeking to amend to include defendants Maddrey and Caban, and we hope that as a result of adding these higher ranking officials, that will be able to drive real change towards the culture of sexual harassment in the NYPD.”

The city filed a motion earlier this month to strike all “unrelated” references to other instances when other women who accused department officials of harassment from the original complaint. The city also sought to dismiss any allegations in the complaint that occurred outside a three-year statute of limitations. 

Maddrey, the department’s third highest-ranking member, has previously faced accusations of sexual misconduct. An unsuccessful 2016 civil suit alleged that he took advantage of a female subordinate, exchanging sex for job perks. The woman also accused Maddrey of hitting her. Maddrey denied wrongdoing, though he faced internal department discipline. That woman’s case was dismissed in state court last month. 

Separately, Maddrey faced Civilian Complaint Review Board charges that he improperly voided the arrest of a retired officer after that officer threatened three kids with his gun. Though the police oversight agency ruled that Maddrey had acted improperly, an ​​NYPD administrative trial judge tossed the disciplinary case against him, The City reported.

Spokespeople for the NYPD and the mayor’s office declined to comment on pending litigation. The Law Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cross motion.

With reporting from Annie McDonough