NYPD bosses ‘screamed and cursed’ at cop who wanted to mask up: lawsuit

She wanted to be protected while she served.But supervisors at NYPD headquarters refused to let an officer mask up during the pandemic’s early days, with one even “hoarding” personal protective equipment, according to a lawsuit.

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In the weeks before COVID-19 shut down much of the city and state, Karen Ramirez, 39, claims in court papers she was “immediately chastised for wearing a mask by multiple supervisors at NYPD Headquarters.”Ramirez, who believes she contracted COVID-19 in January 2020 while working at One Police Plaza, says her bosses were unmoved when she explained she wanted to stay masked to protect her young kids, elderly parents and grandparents from the virus.
They allegedly “screamed and cursed” at her for putting on a mask at work and repeatedly canceled her appointments when she sought the OK for mask-wearing from NYPD doctors, according to legal papers.Eventually, they transferred her from outdoor security checkpoint booths to a post requiring her to deal with people who had been arrested, she said in her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against the city and four supervisors.“This ensured that she had the most possible contact with members of the public while at work,” and led to Ramirez becoming ill a second time, she charges in court documents. Ramirez wasn’t diagnosed with COVID-19 either time, said her lawyer, John Scola, though her January illness lasted three weeks and forced her to take regular sick leave for the first time in 15 years.
Attorney John Scola

“Even after several people in police headquarters became sick and some who died, [Ramirez] was continuously harassed and targeted” for wearing a mask, she claims.Gov. Cuomo ordered all New Yorkers to wear masks outdoors in April 2020, prompting months of complaints about police officers spotted going without. The NYPD didn’t begin enforcing the mask mandate until October. More than 55 officers and civilian employees have died from COVID-19, out of a force roughly 55,000 strong.Ramirez alleges that one of the bosses, Sgt. Edward Figueroa, targeting her, claimed there was no PPE available — even though two full boxes were “in plain sight.” As a different boss was about to hand Ramirez a mask, Figueroa allegedly stepped in, claiming, “No, we do not have any,” she charges in court papers. The alleged mask harassment came after months of discrimination for needing to pump breast milk while at work, claims Ramirez, who has two young children.She was denied overtime and lactation breaks, forced to pump in dirty bathrooms and outdoor security booths, and had the refrigerators where she stored breast milk repeatedly unplugged, according to the litigation.She even once had to stop pumping because then-NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill had driven up to the “filthy” outdoor checkpoint booth where she’d been stationed, she charges.
An officer in the NYPD is suing the department over harassment she claims she endured for wanting to wear a mask.

Ramirez is seeking unspecified damages.The city Law Department declined comment, while the NYPD said the law and department policy prohibit employment discrimination, and the department “takes seriously all accusations of such behavior.”Credit: NYPOST

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