Top NYPD chief held ‘best dressed’ contest targeting female cops at holiday party: lawsuit

The NYPD main successful bid of Manhattan supra 59th Street held a contention for “best dressed,” targeting pistillate cops, with a $700 prize during a 2023 vacation party, claiming helium had support from the department’s Legal Bureau, according to a intersexual harassment suit filed Friday.

Assistant Chief Ruel Stephenson of Patrol Borough Manhattan North served arsenic a “judge” of the contention connected Dec. 13, 2023 astatine the Glen Island Harbor Club successful New Rochelle, going from array to array appraising pistillate cops successful plunging gowns nether his command.

The allegations emerged successful a suit filed successful Manhattan authorities tribunal by Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo, who claims Stephenson sexually harassed her successful 2022 and past tried to derail her vocation aft she rebuffed his advances.

“There was nary prize for champion dressed man,” said Matos-Leo of the vacation enactment contest.

Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)

According to a instrumentality enforcement source, the NYPD Legal Bureau was neither alert of nor approved the contest, but the department’s abstracted Office of Equity and Inclusion was consulted and did o.k. it.

Matos-Leo’s suit turns connected her assertion that aft she ignored Stephenson’s repeated invitations 1 twelvemonth earlier to the command’s 2022 vacation party, helium mounted a run of disapproval of her enactment that outgo her amended assignments and made her beingness miserable.

Matos-Leo’s lawyer John Scola says the lawsuit is different illustration of the NYPD’s “longstanding civilization of intersexual harassment and retaliation.”

“A ‘best dressed’ contention for women astatine a workplace lawsuit sends a wide connection that vocation advancement isn’t based connected merit but connected catering to the boss’s idiosyncratic desires,” Scola said.

“It forces women into an intolerable choice, either sexualize themselves to enactment successful favour oregon hazard retaliation, conscionable similar Lt. Matos-Leo.”

In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson declined to remark connected the suit but said, “The section does not tolerate intersexual harassment and is committed to respectful enactment environments for our divers workforce. The NYPD thoroughly investigates each complaints it receives, and offers respective reporting options for NYPD employees, including anonymously.”

Matos-Leo, 40, joined the NYPD successful 2006. She was promoted to sergeant successful 2015.

In 2019, she sued the NYPD implicit a analyzable saga involving an allegedly abusive boyfriend, who was besides a constabulary officer, claiming different cops retaliated against her for filing a transgression ailment against the boyfriend, tribunal records show.

The metropolis settled that suit successful 2023 for $60,000, Scola said.

In October 2022, Matos-Leo was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the 24th Precinct connected the Upper West Side, wherever Stephenson’s bureau is besides housed.

Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo, right, is pictured with erstwhile NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell during a promotion ceremony. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)

Soon aft she arrived, she says, Stephenson was solicitous nether the guise of inviting her to the upcoming vacation enactment respective weeks away.

“He took my manus and introduced himself and told maine to spot him if I ever needed anything, and past told his driver, ‘We’ve got to archer her astir the party,’” she said. “He was holding my manus the full time.”

“After that, each clip I saw him, helium would say, ‘Don’t forget, you person to travel to my party,’ Or helium would archer his operator to punctual me.”

Matos-Leo was truthful uncomfortable astatine the attraction she skipped the party.

Stephenson’s mode toward her past changed, she alleges. “This is however the main gets erstwhile helium is rejected,” a chap sergeant told her, the suit claims.

Stephenson began criticizing her enactment successful beforehand of different supervisors. In an April 2023 citywide meeting, helium pointed to Matos-Leo and said, “This is what not to bash arsenic a supervisor.”

Ruel Stephenson (right), then-commanding serviceman of the NYPD’s 47th Precinct successful the Bronx, is promoted to Deputy Chief by Police Commissioner James O’Neill (left) astatine constabulary office connected Tuesday, November 21, 2017. (Jefferson Siegel / New York Daily News)

A lieutenant inadvertently near his microphone connected and said, “Why is this antheral being specified a d–k to this girl?”

Stephenson overheard the remark and demanded to cognize who made it. That lieutenant was aboriginal disciplined, the suit claims.

In a May 2023 meeting, Stephenson told Matos-Leo “If helium had the power, helium would occurrence her due to the fact that her enactment is mediocre,” the suit said.

“It got to the constituent wherever radical recognized me,” she said. “Everyone knew helium would instrumentality immoderate accidental to resistance maine done the mud.”

After that, Matos-Leo began putting successful for transfers to assorted different units.

In December, 2023, Stephenson hosted the vacation enactment with the contention for champion dressed woman. Tickets were $150, a flyer shows. Matos-Leo showed The News photos of the lawsuit including pictures of pistillate cops successful slinky dresses that near small to the imagination.

The flyer is for the 2023 vacation enactment wherever this contention was held. (Obtained by Daily News)

Matos-Leo besides recovered herself nether the microscope from commanders who either worked nether Stephenson oregon antecedently worked for him. “He’s the apical canine and truthful it follows you,” she said. “He persuades them that you are brainsick oregon incompetent and your rep gets destroyed.”

In February 2024,  Inspector Kevin Taylor was transferred from bid of the School Safety Division to enactment nether Stephenson. He’d aboriginal beryllium placed connected table work and had to surrender his phones amid a bid of corruption investigations that embroiled the Adams administration; Taylor has not been charged with immoderate wrongdoing.

Taylor demanded Matos-Leo salute him each clip she saw him adjacent erstwhile helium had conscionable emerged from the gym, she claims. He besides ordered her to constitute down each bid she gave cops nether her command, the suit says.

In May, she asked for a transportation to 1 of the Transit Bureau, but specifically requested not to beryllium transferred to Transit District 4 astatine Union Square. She was transferred determination anyhow successful June.

At the transit district, Matos-Leo got into a moving struggle with a pistillate sergeant nether her bid who is adjacent to the portion commander, Deputy Inspector Joseph Pulgarin, the suit alleges.

The sergeant allegedly ignored Matos-Leo’s orders astatine times and sometimes called her “crazy” oregon different made amusive of her.

At 1 constituent she tried to subject the sergeant, but Pulgarin, who antecedently worked nether Stephenson, blocked it.

Lt. Mariela Matos-Leo. (Courtesy of Mariela Matos-Leo)

In September, she met with Pulgarin, but the commandant again refused to subject the sergeant, the suit says.

“That’s erstwhile I decided to sue,” she said. “I did not privation to spell to this command. I person been truthful bushed up and disrespected, I had enough. I was conscionable going to retire, but present I’m determined to combat to beryllium heard.”

Matos-Leo claims Stephenson’s alleged retaliation caused her to marque little than antheral lieutenants and outgo her arsenic overmuch arsenic $1.7 cardinal successful mislaid pension benefits, the suit alleges.

Matos-Leo tin discontinue erstwhile she hits 20 years of work successful 2026. For now, she is bouncing backmost and distant betwixt her uncomfortable enactment concern and her young children, an 11-year-old lad with autism and a seven-year-old girl with lupus.

“It takes a batch of spot to woody with this,” she said. “If you spell to enactment and amusement immoderate emotion, I could perchance suffer everything.”