‘Abused process’
Judge doubts sex case; cop eyes countersuit
An ex-girlfriend’s explosive federal lawsuit against an NYPD chief seems to have fizzled in court — and now the chief is weighing a countersuit over the “frivolous” case.
Ex-cop Tabatha Foster filed a $100 million lawsuit against Brooklyn North Chief Jeffrey Maddrey in 2016 that alleged he forced her into an abusive sexual relationship.
But her lawyers withdrew many of the allegations in September, and Foster’s original lawyer, Eric Sanders, cut ties with her in November.
Her suit’s coup de grace appeared to come last week, when Brooklyn Federal Judge Ann Donnelly suggested the remaining allegations should be dismissed.
“I do not think this is going to be a successful endeavor for the plaintiff,” Donnelly said during a conference in the case. “I just do not see a federal suit here.”
Foster’s lawyers are seeking the dismissal of their federal lawsuit in a way that will let her pursue the case in state Supreme Court, court papers say.
But Maddrey — whose lawyers in November filed more than 3,000 pages of documents seeking the case’s dismissal — is now considering a suit against Foster and Sanders for “abuse of the process,” said his lawyer, Lambros Lambrou.
“They abused the process by using the lawsuit to get back at Maddrey,” he said. “It’s a message to her and her attorney that you can’t do this. You can’t file these fake charges.
“This was all a big waste of time,” said Lambrou. “She went from asking for $100 million to having her case dismissed. It couldn’t even get to a jury.”
Lambrou said the ordeal was difficult for Maddrey. “It cost him in time, money and reputation,” Lambrou said.
“It’s pretty clear that Sanders is all bark and no bite. His conduct is really sanctionable,” Lambrou said. “He dropped the client a few months ago. He brings this lawsuit, plays it up in the press and then he dropped it like a hot potato.”
But Sanders fired back he would respond in kind if such a lawsuit is brought.
“That’s ridiculous,” Sanders said. “He can do whatever he wants, but he should be careful about what I might do … I bring cases in good faith, period. It’s not personal to me, period.”
Lambrou said a state judge would dismiss the case, too. Foster’s current lawyer, Matthew Blit, disagrees. Blit’s firm on Monday asked Donnelly to issue an order that would let Foster’s case proceed in state court.
In her lawsuit, Foster claimed that Maddrey pulled a gun on her in December 2015 during an argument after choking her and throwing her to the ground.
She later ranted on Facebook that Maddrey “chased pregnant married girls around the department.”
Foster claims that despite Maddrey’s actions toward her, he continued to rise through the NYPD ranks.
Maddrey has long denied the allegations. His lawyers said Foster harassed him repeatedly, including sending him some 350 text messages in a single day. They also say she sent him nude pictures of her even though he begged her to stop.