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Queens Woman Sues Cops For Publicizing Her Subway Suicide Attempt
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 18, 2013
Modified Aug 18, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 18, 2013
Modified Aug 18, 2013
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A Queens woman is suing the NYPD for $7 million because she claims the publicity around her attempted suicide by subway has prevented her from getting a job. Yasmin Rahman, 27, says in the lawsuit that the city made pictures and police reports from her suicide attempt in 2001 publicly available. And she claims that at least 39 potential employers have turned her down because details of the incident popped up on background checks.
"They asked me if I was on crutches or in a wheelchair," the woman told the Post. "They've told me, 'It's a police report, you were injured,' and, 'There's a picture of you at the hospital,' 'There's a picture of you on the tracks.'" When she was 15-years-old, Rahman jumped in front of an R train on the Lexington Avenue platform in Manhattan. She blames the attempt on her childhood, which included living with a single mom with psychiatric issues.
“I don’t think people understood I was afraid most of my childhood," she explained. "I just didn’t want to be home any more.” She suffered a serious head injury, broken bones and memory loss that hospitalized her for six months. After she recovered, she began studying psychology at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Pace University.
Rahman says she's been able to get some retail jobs, but not any serious ones because of her past: “I didn’t get a degree to sell mobile phones." An NYPD spokesman has denied the allegations and said, “We do not maintain a medical database.” It is illegal for employers to ask whether you have a handicap (if it isn't applicable to the job), and it is also illegal to ask "any non job related inquiry that may present information permitting unlawful discrimination."
Tagged
cops
lawsuit
nypd
police
subway
Suicide attempt
Yasmin Rahman
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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