A Manhattan federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a onetime New York City police commissioner who claimed that his dismissal by the administration of former Mayor Eric Adams had been retaliation for his efforts to expose corruption within the Police Department.
In her ruling on Wednesday, the judge, Denise Cote, said that the 243-page lawsuit brought by the former interim commissioner, Thomas G. Donlon, had provided little proof to back his claims that Mr. Adams and top police officials were running a criminal enterprise. John Scola, a lawyer for Mr. Donlon, said that he and his client “strongly disagree with the court’s decision” and that they planned to appeal.
Mr. Adams appointed Mr. Donlon, a former F.B.I. official, to bring stability to the Police Department in 2024 as local and federal investigations into the mayor’s administration widened. Mr. Donlon took over on Sept. 13 from Edward A. Caban, who had resigned the previous day under pressure from City Hall because of the growing federal probes.
Over the next three weeks, multiple senior officials in the administration also resigned and Mr. Adams was indicted on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery, which were later dropped.
Mr. Adams replaced Mr. Donlon in November 2024 with Jessica S. Tisch, the current police commissioner.
Judge Cote said that Mr. Donlon’s lawsuit, filed in July 2025, did not show that “the defendants acted with a common purpose” in a criminal enterprise. The judge wrote that “some events are described only in broad brushstrokes without specified dates.”
Mr. Donlon, in his lawsuit, argued that police officials had given his unauthorized stamp of approval to departmental decisions, made secret changes to promotion lists and tried to plant spies in his office. Still, Judge Cote said, Mr. Donlon failed to show that those allegations were enough to proceed with his case.
Mr. Donlon said in his lawsuit that he had been hired because Mr. Adams wanted him to root out corruption and rebuild the Police Department. But he was undermined shortly after his appointment, he said. Federal agents searched his home, but never charged him with a crime.
From then on, Mr. Donlon said, he felt like “he had the position in name only and had no authority, control or sole decision making.”
Chelsia Rose Marcius is a criminal justice reporter for The Times, covering the New York Police Department.
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