Westchester DA candidate was let go over allegations included in harassment lawsuit

A former Westchester prosecutor running for District Attorney was disciplined over his interaction with a female subordinate, eventually losing his job because of it, and still faces a federal lawsuit over the issue.

But Adeel Mirza insists the woman's allegation that he sexually assaulted her was fabricated and he has no intention of letting it distract him from his effort to return to the office as the county's elected DA.

Mirza was docked five vacation days and removed from the DA’s hiring committee in early 2020 after top officials under then-District Attorney Anthony Scarpino deemed rookie prosecutor Bianca Brown’s claims about Mirza’s conduct were credible. Mirza, a 17-year-veteran at the time, remained deputy bureau chief in charge of the Greenburgh branch office but was let go when Mimi Rocah became the DA a year later.

Brown, who is African-American, sued Mirza, Westchester County, Rocah, Scarpino and two other prosecutors in 2022 alleging sexual and racial harassment by Mirza and racial discrimination and retaliation by the office over work assignments and her eventual firing by Rocah in June 2021. That case is pending but a judge last week dismissed several of the claims against Rocah, Scarpino and the county.

Mirza has been running for DA since before Rocah’s late October announcement that she would not seek a second term. He registered a campaign committee with the state Board of Elections in September and formally kicked off his campaign last week, touting his prosecutorial experience.

Other Democrats seeking the party nomination are former Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace, civil rights attorney William Wagstaff and longtime public defender Sheralyn Pulver Goodman. A fifth candidate, Pay Pal executive and former Manhattan prosecutor David Szuchman, withdrew from the race and so far no Republicans have said they were running.

Bianca Brown's lawsuit allegations

Mirza was among three prosecutors in the office who interviewed Brown for a job in 2019. Brown alleged that once she got the job that November, Mirza pressured her to go out for drinks with him, sending a "barrage of harassing, unwelcome and unwanted" text messages, one of which included a picture of himself.

She claims in the lawsuit that when she agreed to meet him at a restaurant days after she started work, Mirza reeked of alcohol, made racially and sexually inappropriate comments, tried to ply her with drinks and suggested that if she wanted to move up in the office, he should "stick with him." And he showed her a copy of the evaluation he wrote recommending she get the job - an unusual move that her lawsuit contends was a quid pro quo seeking sexual favors for supporting her hiring. The lawsuit called the panel interview "(Mirza's) own personal casting couch.”

When Brown started to leave, she claims in the lawsuit, Mirza put his arm around her waist, stuck his hand down the back of her pants and, with his hand on her buttock, asked why she was afraid of him.

The lawsuit claims she made a complaint about Mirza's "racial and sexual discrimination, harassment and sexual assault" to top Scarpino deputy Victor Olds and it was referred to two first deputy district attorneys, Eileen Songer McCarthy and Patricia Murphy.

Discipline documented for Adeel Mirza

A January 2020 memo obtained by The Journal News/lohud in response to a Freedom of Information request showed the discipline Mirza faced.

Brown’s name was redacted from the document but it made clear that McCarthy and Murphy interviewed Brown and Mirza after she expressed concern about being assigned to the Greenburgh office where he was in charge.

There are no details about her complaint in the memo. Mirza and his lawyer, Richard Portale, insist she did not claim any physical contact by him and that that allegation did not surface until she began pursuing legal action a year later.

According to the memo, Mirza acknowledged a “recent friendship” with her and could not think of why she wouldn’t want to work in the Greenburgh office. McCarthy and Murphy then interviewed Brown and found her account of her interactions with Mirza “credible.”

They met with Mirza again and told him the woman’s account “differed significantly” from his and that they “believed his contact with (her) was inappropriate and unacceptable.”

He was then told of the discipline – loss of five days and removal from the hiring committee – which the memo indicated “he understood and accepted.”

His lawyer, Portale, said the discipline had nothing to do with the sexual harassment she is now claiming.

”She never accused him of touching her," Portale said. "Because if she had accused him of touching her – an unwanted touching from a boss – do you think they would have said ‘You know Adeel, that’s inappropriate, and that’s unacceptable and don’t do that again.’ Do you think that’s what happened? No, she didn’t make that accusation.”

Mirza acknowledged only one mistake - showing Brown his evaluation, which he said he did simply as part of their conversation about her landing the job. He said he doesn't remember ever saying anything about Brown sticking with him or even implying such a thing.

McCarthy, now a New Rochelle judge, declined to comment and Murphy, who is retired, could not be reached for comment. Olds now works at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He referred a reporter's inquiry to the press office there and a spokeswoman declined to comment, saying it was a matter for the Westchester DA's Office.

That office declined to discuss the case, including what behavior Mirza was disciplined for, citing the pending litigation. But it confirmed that the memo obtained through the Freedom of Information request was the basis for his dismissal.

Derek Sells, a lawyer with The Cochran Firm representing Brown, did not answer specific questions posed in recent weeks.

“Our client stands by the allegations she has made in the complaint," Sells said in an email. "Mr. Mirza sexually assaulted her.  People who have done what Mr. Mirza has done have faced criminal consequences, including jail time. The loss of vacation days and removal from a hiring committee was an internal personnel decision that does not hold him accountable for his unwanted, predatory and sexually abhorrent conduct. Ms. Brown’s lawsuit is meant to do just that.”

End of work in Westchester

The lawsuit contends that, because Mirza was close with several "high-level ADAs", Brown was subject to retaliation following her complaint, including unfavorable work assignments, additional responsibilities and fabricated reasons to justify reprimands or poor work evaluations.

In 2021 she was transferred to the Rye branch office, which she considered a step down career-wise. Brown contends that she was further retaliated against when she complained that her supervisor, Cynthia Adimari, was covering up the failure of providing exculpatory information showing a Larchmont man who had been arrested for assaulting a neighbor had been attacked first.

Brown contends that her complaints led Adimari to fabricate allegations that Brown was dishonest.

She claims that Rocah asked her in June 2021 to resign effective at the end of July but when she refused she was fired.

She then went to work at the Bronx District Attorney's Office but left after just 10 months. Portale said he had learned it was a result of dishonesty - including lying about being at work when she wasn't and that she had not informed them she was fired in Westchester - and the lawsuit is simply a "money grab" and a continuation of that lack of credibility.

“This didn’t happen. She’s a dishonest person," Portale said. "She lies to people to do what she wants, when she wants and thinks she’s smarter than everybody and can just get away with it."

Sells said Brown is pursuing legal action over her wrongful termination in the Bronx but did not elaborate.

Mirza said he has discussed the lawsuit with local Democratic committees and explained that he has been wrongly accused. He believes voters will accept that and are more concerned about criminal justice issues in the county than with a "frivoulous lawsuit."

"I'm not going to let this derail (my candidacy)," he told The Journal News/lohud. "It's all untrue."

Democratic leaders are expected to select a nominee on Feb. 12 but a primary in June remains a possibility.

Party chair Suzanne Berger said she discussed the case with Mirza and he acknowledged being disciplined but denied the lawsuit's allegations. She said it was important for the information to be out there so party leaders could make up their own minds.

Asked if there was a difference between whether Mirza was disciplined over the allegation of physical contact or just how he interacted with a subordinate, Berger said certainly from a legal standpoint but not necessarily from a political one.

"There are political risks to supporting a candidate (with such allegations) outstanding," she said.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Westchester DA candidate Mirza was let go over harassment allegations