FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bronx lawsuit alleges the NYPD placed Moran in command of a precinct already on notice for sexual-misconduct problems, only for him to allegedly sexualize, pressure, touch, humiliate, and retaliate against subordinate female members of service.

New York, N.Y. — July 9, 2026 — Eric Sanders, Esq., of The Sanders Firm, P.C., has filed a human-rights lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court, Bronx County, on behalf of NYPD Sergeant Osmairys A. Avila and NYPD Police Officers Pamela Sosa and Brittany N. Romero against the City of New York, Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, and Deputy Inspector Juan O. Moran.

The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, race, ethnicity, and national-origin discrimination, and aiding and abetting under the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law.

Sergeant Avila and Police Officer Sosa are Latina and Dominican. Police Officer Romero is Latina, Puerto Rican, and Ecuadorian. All three plaintiffs were assigned to the NYPD’s 46th Precinct in Bronx County and were subordinate to Moran’s command authority.

According to the complaint, the NYPD and Commissioner Tisch were already on notice that the 46th Precinct had become a sexually compromised command. The lawsuit cites the previously filed N.T. v. City of New York and Jeremy Scheublin action, in which a female NYPD officer alleged that the former commanding officer of the 46th Precinct sexually harassed, retaliated against, and sexually assaulted her inside the command.

Against that backdrop, the complaint alleges that Tisch selected, approved, assigned, retained, supervised, or permitted Moran to serve as commanding officer of the 46th Precinct. Moran, according to the complaint, was supposed to bring control to a command already associated with sexual misconduct, supervisory abuse, retaliation, reporting failures, and institutional failure. Instead, the plaintiffs allege he became another source of the same problem.

“This case is about notice, power, recurrence, and retaliation,” said attorney Eric Sanders. “The NYPD knew the 46th Precinct had a sexual-misconduct problem. Commissioner Tisch allegedly put Moran in charge of that command. Plaintiffs allege he then used his authority as commanding officer to create private access, pressure subordinate women, sexualize them, touch them, humiliate them, and retaliate when they resisted or complained.”

As to Sergeant Avila, the complaint alleges that Moran created private command access to her, discussed his personal life, asked about her personal life, told her he loved “feisty,” made a comment to the effect that he loved a “strong Latina,” texted her “I miss you,” moved her closer to his office, pressured her to attend a command-related fishing trip, directed sexualized photographs, degraded her Dominican national origin, denied her an available Department vehicle, used another supervisor to reach her, and threatened retaliation after she reported him to the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Office of Equity and Inclusion.

As to Police Officer Sosa, the complaint alleges that Moran summoned her under the unexplained threat of a UF49, asked personal questions unrelated to police business, questioned her about Hispanic Society-related events, pressured her to attend events and bring her girlfriends, sexualized her at Department-related social events, gave her an unwanted tight hug, repeatedly pressured her to dance, and intentionally untied the knot securing her dress at the New York Dominican Officers Organization Tipico party. The complaint further alleges that Moran later wrote, caused, submitted, approved, relied upon, or caused Risk Management to receive an unfavorable UF49 concerning Sosa because she rejected, avoided, or failed to submit to his overt sexual advances. The complaint alleges that the UF49 and Risk Management process were then used or permitted to extend Sosa’s probation.

As to Police Officer Romero, the complaint alleges that Moran used a command-level bet to create personal access, obtained her phone number, repeatedly told her that she “owed” him, pressured her to attend Department-related events, touched her cheek without consent, made sexualized comments about her dress, divorce, and his pension, repeatedly pressured her to dance, and later texted her an apology after allegedly being told he was “out of control” and may have “crossed any lines.”

The lawsuit alleges that Moran’s conduct was not harmless flirting, bad judgment, or awkward social behavior. Plaintiffs allege it was command-level sexual harassment carried out through rank, access, pressure, humiliation, unwanted touching, Department-related social events, paperwork threats, probationary vulnerability, and retaliation.

The complaint also alleges race, ethnicity, and national-origin discrimination. Plaintiffs allege that Moran did not merely sexualize them as women; he sexualized, stereotyped, degraded, and targeted them as Latina subordinate female members of service, including Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Ecuadorian women. The complaint specifically references Moran’s alleged “strong Latina” comment, his alleged Dominican Republic boat comment, his questioning about Hispanic Society-related events, and his alleged conduct at the NYDO Tipico party, a Department-related ethnic-affinity event.

“When a commanding officer uses rank to make subordinate women feel trapped, watched, pressured, touched, humiliated, or professionally unsafe, that is not workplace leadership,” Sanders said. “That is abuse of power. The NYPD cannot keep selling the public a reform narrative while female members of service are allegedly left to manage sexualized command behavior on their own.”

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, emotional-distress damages, economic damages where applicable, punitive damages against the individual defendants to the extent permitted by law, attorneys’ fees, costs, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and other relief deemed just and proper.

The complaint alleges that the City, NYPD, and Commissioner Tisch failed to protect the plaintiffs, failed to adequately supervise Moran, failed to respond effectively to protected complaints and visible misconduct, and protected the command structure instead of the women harmed by it.

About The Sanders Firm, P.C.

The Sanders Firm, P.C. is a New York-based law firm focused on civil rights, immigration, employment discrimination, police misconduct, and other high-stakes matters. Its founder and president, Eric Sanders, Esq., is a retired NYPD officer who brings a rare inside perspective to the intersection of government power, public institutions, enforcement discretion, and constitutional accountability.

For more than twenty years, Sanders has counseled thousands of clients and handled complex matters involving police use of force, sexual harassment, retaliation, systemic discrimination, immigration consequences, and related civil-rights violations. He is widely recognized as a leading New York civil-rights attorney and a prominent voice on evidence-based policing, institutional accountability, equal justice, and rights-based immigration advocacy.

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