Rikers Guard Attacked After Reporting Anti-Trans Harassment: Suit

QUEENS, NEW YORK — The last thing a Rikers Island guard remembers before a punch landed and she lost consciousness was a detainee calling her a "tranny b----," a new discrimination lawsuit against the city contends.

The attack — which left the guard with a broken nose and two chipped teeth — was orchestrated by fellow Rikers Island officers who wouldn't provide backup after she reported gender-based discrimination to the Department of Corrections, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.

"I was viciously attacked based on my perceived gender," the guard reported to the Department of Correction. "DOC is intentionally setting me up to be assaulted again in retaliation against me due to my complaints."

The guard — not named by Patch because of the nature of her complaint — also accuses Rikers Island officials of ignoring her discrimination reports then reprimanding her for failing to contain, by herself, a fight between two rival gangs.

New York's Law Department, which represents city agencies in civil court, did not respond to Patch's request for comment.

The guard says her problems began almost immediately after she began working at Rikers Island in December 2016, legal papers show.

While the guard identifies as a cisgender female, fellow guards used derogatory slurs against transgendered people towards her and encouraged detainees to join them, the suit contends.

This alleged treatment spurred the guard to file in 2017 an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint, according to the lawsuit.

As the guard waited for the results of the investigation into her claims, tensions mounted and much on Rikers Island changed.

The death of Layleen Polanco in 2019 drew the nation's attention to Rikers Island, the problems with solitary confinement and the dangers faced by trans detainees.

And with the pandemic came staffing shortages and overcrowding issues that have since created conditions critics call a "full-blown humanitarian crisis" and former detainees compare to slave ships.

At least 12 people have died at Rikers Island this year, spurring Mayor Bill de Blasio to bring in NYPD officers and private staff and file suit against the corrections officers' union for mass absenteeism his administration blamed for worsening conditions.

For the guard, the dangers of under-staffing became a reality on Feb. 6, 2021, when a gang fight broke out at the George R. Vierno Center and the guard found herself alone, the complaint contends.

As a battle raged between rival gang members, the guard called for backup by hitting an emergency alert button at least four times, but no one came, according to the lawsuit.

The guard faced off against one detainee who punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground, the suit contends.

"At some point, Plaintiff regained consciousness to another incarcerated person dragging her
across the room," the lawsuit states.

"At this point, Defendants had still provided no assistance or protection to Plaintiff, who was injured and in fear for her life and safety."

Officers eventually arrived to pull the corrections officer to safety, but not in time to prevent injuries that included a broken nose, concussion, scars and a cracked veneer, according to the complaint.

The corrections officer filed another harassment complaint in March, but rather than address the concerns raised, the Department of Correction charged her with disciplinary violations for the February assault, the lawsuit contends.

"[The guard] engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer and of a nature to bring discredit upon the Department," the charges read.

Those charges did not prevent supervisors from attempting in July to reassign the guard to the same command where she'd been attacked in February, the lawsuit contends.

Rather than face the place where she was attacked, the guard requested a leave of absence.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, accuses the city of discrimination and retaliation.

She is not the first guard to accuse corrections officers of gender discrimination this year.

In August, K-9 officer Donna Schnirring filed suit alleging her German Shepherd partner was punished because she complained of a co-worker's sexual harassment.

"I lost everything overnight because I made a complaint about a coworker," Schnirring told Patch at the time.

"Maybe I shouldn't have made the complaint. If I got sexually harassed again, I don't know what I'd do."