A former top lawyer with the New York City Board of Elections — who retired amid a probe into his conduct — sexually harassed college athle🌟tes during physical exams for recruiting for security jobs, a new laws🔥uit alleges.
Ex-BOE Chief 𝕴Counsel Steven Richman is accused by a Columbia University freshman of sexually harassing and choking him until he fell unconscious during an hours-long physical test, accordi🐬ng to the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Richman allegedly told the student — a wrestler with the sc﷽hool who filed suit anonymously on Tuesday — that he was recruiting him for a security guard job for politiꦏcal rallies, the court papers claim.
Richman brought the student into the🅰 BOE Broadway offices on Aug. 16, 2020, a Sunday, and he bragg♎ed about his political connections, including showing a photo of himself with a former president, who is not named in the suit, the court documents claim.
Richman then took measurements of the student’s body, telling him that “he’s very athletic” before demanding that he “perform push-ups with Richman lying on top of [him],” the court papers allege.
Twice, Richman put the man in a chokehold — causing him to pass out the second time and leaving him w♎ith neck pain, the suit claims.
When the student came to, he claims that “Richman ‘s arms were draped over [him] and around [his] torso,” according to the court documents.
Richman proceeded to continue testin﷽g the student for an hour after he emerged from unconsciousness, including Richman charging at him as he stood in place and taking photos of him shirtless before Richman emerged from a bathroom shirtless himself, the court papers claim.
After the incident, Richman texted the student “at inappropriate times,” the filing claims.
The student’s lawyer, Andrew Buzin, said it wasn’t even clear if the job posting was real.
“Either he’s applying for a position and is badly sexually harassed or there is no position and it’s basically a fraud that is being perpetrated on him [in which] he’s basically being put through these physical activities for no purpose,” Buzin told The Post.
The student th𒊎en report🌟ed Richman to the DOI in August 2020, his lawyer said.
The alleged victim was later told by another athlete that “Richman was a predator” and forwarded him an email that was sent to the university detailing “experiences that student athletes had with Richman,” the court papers say.
“Not long after he had this interaction, then he’s informed by another fellow athlete that this guy is a predator and all of a sudden these feelings of being taken advantage of come through and he’s still not over it,” Buzin said.
Now, “he has flashbacks and it actually injured his neck as a result of what Richman put him through,” Buzin said noting his client had trouble swallowing and had bruising on his neck after.
The suit claims that the BOE knew about “previous incidents of inappropriate conduct” involving Richman — but still kept him on staff.
In January, Richman retired from his post at the BOE, where he oversaw all election-related legal issues and court cases, under murky cir🍷cumstances. At the time, he was under DOI investigation though it was unclear for what.
The probe was announced by the DOE at the BOE’s meeting in early September of last year.
The student is suing the city and Richman for unspecified damages. It’s unclear if the DOI probe is related to the student’s complaints about Richman.
“There are just a lot of questions that are unanswered right now,” Buzin said. “This should never have happened and it should never happen again.”
Buzin said he believes the DOI’s investigation of Richman is ongoing. The DOI declined to comment on the status of the case.
“My guess is we will see some more things come out soon based on what they find,” Buzin said.
When reached by phone, Richman said he didn’t know about the lawsuit and declined to comment.
The city Law Department and the B♑OE did not immedia𝓡te return a request for comment.