NEW YORK — To defend himself against sexual harassment and retaliation accusations, former City Hall adviser Tim Pearson has racked up a taxpayer-funded legal bill with a private firm that now tops $620,000, prompting calls for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to review whether that arrangement is appropriate.

Pearson, a confidant to former Mayor Eric Adams who was his powerful public safety adviser at City Hall, was sued in 2024 by four current and former NYPD employees who allege he sexually harassed one of them and then retaliated when the others spoke out, including by demoting them.

The city Law Department can provide legal representation for city employees being sued over allegations related to their official duties. But Adams’ Law Department determined it couldn’t rep Pearson in the four suits because it was already representing one of his accusers in an unrelated matter.

Instead, the Law Department made the decision to retain Wilson Elser, a private firm specializing in civil defense, to represent Pearson and several other top Adams allies named as defendants alongside him, including ex-NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.

New records obtained by the Daily News show Wilson Elser has as of this week already been paid $622,931 to represent Pearson alone in the cases.

The decision to use outside counsel has been a source of controversy, with it playing a factor in Adams’ first corporation counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, resigning in summer 2024.

Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, who chairs the Council’s Governmental Operations Committee, said Tuesday the legal tab should be cause for Mamdani’s administration to reconsider the arrangement. Restler said he expects to seek information about such a review from Steve Banks, Mamdani’s pick for corporation counsel, when he undergoes Council confirmation hearings on his nomination in coming weeks.

“It would be reasonable and appropriate for the Mamdani administration to conduct a review of former Adams administration officials who are receiving taxpayer funded attorneys,” Restler said. “If the administration does not believe that these officials were properly following the law then they have no responsibility to represent them.”

A spokeswoman for Mamdani, who was sworn in as mayor last week, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Local administrative law holds that the city shouldn’t provide taxpayer-funded representation for employees accused of misconduct violating rules and regulations all city workers are subject to.

John Scola, an attorney representing Pearson’s four accusers, argued Tuesday the Law Department’s continued funding of Pearson’s representation flies in the face of that restriction. “Mayor Mamdani should evaluate this case on the merits and decide whether public funds should continue to be used to protect an individual rather than accountability,” Scola said.

Pearson’s attorney, John Flannery, didn’t return a request for comment.

The legal tab revelations come on the heels of Scola filing a letter in court Monday alleging Pearson’s legal team has refused to provide reams of relevant records as part of the discovery processes in their lawsuits.

Pearson, an ex-NYPD inspector who was empowered by Adams to exercise significant sway over the city’s law enforcement and contracting operations, hasn’t furnished any text messages in response to discovery demands, Scola wrote. Additionally, he has failed to offer responses to demands for records related to corruption investigations by local and federal authorities that ensnared Pearson before he resigned from Adams’ administration in September 2024, Scola wrote.

In his letter, Scola wrote the presiding judge should compel Pearson to provide the records in question and place the discovery processes under court supervision.

In a separate matter, Pearson was sued for allegedly assaulting several guards at a migrant shelter in October 2023. The Adams administration settled that case by paying the guards $350,000, and the Department of Investigation concluded last year Pearson abused his authority during the incident and lied to authorities about what transpired.

Federal investigators seized Pearson’s electronic devices in fall 2024 as part of a web of corruption investigations that entangled several top Adams administration officials. Pearson was not charged in any of those probes.

Adams, who was himself indicted on federal corruption charges that were eventually quashed by President Donald Trump’s administration, defended Pearson throughout his various legal dramas.

“Tim has had a long career in both the public and private sectors, where he has spent over 30 years keeping New Yorkers safe,” Adams said in a statement after Pearson’s Sept. 30, 2024 resignation. “We appreciate Tim’s decades of service to this city and wish him well.”

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