‘CURSING AND YELLING’

NYPD Officer Was Harassed, Suffered on the Job for Wearing Mask: Suit

When Karen Ramirez showed up to a roll call wearing a mask, a supervisor began shouting and swearing at her, she alleges in a lawsuit.

New York City Police Department officer Karen Ramirez says that when she started wearing a mask at work during the early days of the pandemic, she was scolded and threatened by her co-workers. Now the 39-year-old is suing the department, saying she suffered career consequences because of her mask-wearing. Her lawsuit details an incident in late March 2020, just a week before the federal government called for Americans to don masks, when a supervisor started “cursing and yelling” at her over her mask. Ramirez also alleges that when she said she was worried about infecting her elderly relatives and children, she was moved to a crowded police HQ in downtown Manhattan, which she believed made her more likely to contract the virus. “You want a mask, that will be your permanent post,” she claims another supervisor told her.