NYPD Officer Alleges Retaliation After Reporting Sexual Harassment Inside Transit District 11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Sanders Firm, P.C. Files Civil-Rights Action on Behalf of NYPD Officer Donna Y. Castillo-Diaz Alleging Race and National Origin Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Disability Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation

New York, N.Y. — May 25, 2026 — Eric Sanders, Esq., of The Sanders Firm, P.C. has filed a civil-rights lawsuit on behalf of Police Officer DONNA Y. CASTILLO-DIAZ, a Dominican woman assigned to NYPD Transit District 11, against THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ROMAINE L. WILSON, DARNELL S. JONES, DAVID PABON, JAMAL HAIRSTON, and MARIA TERESA CASTALDI.

The action alleges violations of the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law, including Race and National Origin Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Disability Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation.

Officer Castillo-Diaz has served approximately ten years in Transit District 11. For roughly six of those years, she worked in the command’s Administrative Office, performing scheduling, personnel, overtime, and command-support functions. According to the complaint, she was experienced, relied upon, and deeply familiar with the internal operations of the command.

The lawsuit alleges that Officer Castillo-Diaz had already engaged in protected activity before the events giving rise to this action. In October 2023, she filed a Charge of Discrimination with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging workplace sexual harassment within Transit District 11. She later filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York concerning alleged sexual harassment by an NYPD supervisor, Sergeant Alexander Pimentel.

According to the complaint, the prior federal action alleged that Sergeant Pimentel subjected Officer Castillo-Diaz to unwanted touching, sexually offensive comments, workplace monitoring through department camera equipment, sexually provocative photographs, grabbing, taking her personal cellular telephone, touching her neck, nibbling her ear, and later confronting her after she complained internally. That federal action was financially resolved, and Officer Castillo-Diaz received the settlement payment in April 2025.

The new lawsuit alleges that the financial settlement did not end the workplace consequences. Instead, Officer Castillo-Diaz alleges that her prior sexual-harassment complaint, EEOC charge, federal lawsuit, and settlement became known inside Transit District 11, a relatively small command where employees and supervisors were aware of the allegations. The complaint alleges that after she complained, coworkers and supervisors began distancing themselves from her and treating her as a problem because she had reported misconduct.

“This case is about what happens after a woman in uniform reports sexual harassment inside a police command,” said Eric Sanders, founder and president of The Sanders Firm, P.C. “The allegations describe a familiar institutional pattern: the complainant becomes isolated, the command protects itself, and the internal machinery of the workplace is turned against the person who asserted protected rights.”

The complaint alleges that the retaliation escalated after defendant ROMAINE L. WILSON became commanding officer of Transit District 11 in or around June 2025. Shortly after his arrival, and within months of Officer Castillo-Diaz receiving the settlement payment from her prior federal case, Wilson removed her from the Administrative Office despite her years of experience and recent work assisting the command with a major tour-transition project.

According to the complaint, Officer Castillo-Diaz had helped the command transition personnel from twelve-hour tours back to eight-hour-and-thirty-five-minute tours, including work involving spreadsheets, scheduling, personnel movement, Labor Relations communications, and related command operations. The complaint alleges that immediately after this work was completed, Wilson ordered her into a meeting and told her that she was being removed from administration because he had received complaints that she yelled at other officers.

Officer Castillo-Diaz alleges that the stated reason was false, vague, undocumented, and pretextual. The complaint alleges that she was not counseled, shown any complaint, given names of complainants, disciplined, or afforded a meaningful opportunity to respond. She was forced to select a patrol squad and was removed from a position she had held for years.

The lawsuit further alleges that after her removal, Wilson engaged in intrusive and sexually offensive conduct toward Officer Castillo-Diaz. At a Transit District 11 barbecue, Wilson allegedly approached her after other officers left the area and told her, in a flirtatious manner, “I see you Donna doing your thing,” referencing her arrests and summonses. The complaint alleges that Wilson continued making “I see you” comments in the hallways in a manner Officer Castillo-Diaz perceived as personal, intrusive, and sexualized.

The complaint alleges that this conduct was especially disturbing because Officer Castillo-Diaz had already experienced a pattern of workplace monitoring and escalating sexualized behavior in the prior Pimentel matter. According to the complaint, Wilson later directed her to turn off her body-worn camera during an attempted-robbery assignment, isolated her, discussed her removal from administration, and asked whether she wanted her administrative position back. The promised return to administration allegedly never occurred.

The lawsuit also names JAMAL HAIRSTON, a detective specialist assigned to Transit District 11. The complaint alleges that after Wilson moved Hairston into an administrative/operator role, Hairston made unwanted sexualized comments toward Officer Castillo-Diaz and other female officers, including Hispanic female officers. According to the complaint, Hairston referred to Officer Castillo-Diaz as “the light of my eyes” and “my goddess walking my way,” and suggested that she should return to the Administrative Office, sit beside him, and work for him.

Officer Castillo-Diaz alleges that she did not welcome or reciprocate the comments and avoided Hairston because she believed he was aligned with Wilson and defendant DARNELL S. JONES, and because she feared further retaliation, including undesirable assignments, chart changes, late tours, or midnights.

The complaint alleges that Jones, a lieutenant later placed in an administrative role, targeted Officer Castillo-Diaz through overtime scrutiny, undesirable details, hostile treatment, assignment pressure, and opposition to her reasonable accommodation. According to the complaint, Jones scrutinized a routine overtime swap that had been approved by a supervisor and later was overheard asking why Castillo-Diaz was not on details and directing that she be sent.

The lawsuit also names DAVID PABON, a lieutenant and Integrity Control Officer at Transit District 11. The complaint alleges that Pabon referred to Officer Castillo-Diaz as a “snake,” a term she understood as retaliation for her prior and ongoing complaints. Pabon later allegedly participated with Wilson in issuing the first Command Discipline of Officer Castillo-Diaz’s career after reviewing body-worn-camera footage from a line-of-duty injury.

Officer Castillo-Diaz was diagnosed with Raynaud’s disease after experiencing severe symptoms in her feet while working in cold conditions. She later requested a reasonable accommodation seeking an inside assignment out of cold-weather exposure. The complaint alleges that Wilson and Jones opposed a proposed day-tour accommodation and instead attempted to place her on midnights, despite known medical and family hardships.

According to the complaint, the reasonable accommodation was ultimately approved, allowing Officer Castillo-Diaz to work as a telephone switchboard operator on the second platoon. Shortly afterward, Wilson and Pabon allegedly used body-worn-camera footage from her line-of-duty injury to search for a disciplinary basis against her. The discipline was based on a small white bag on her gun belt that contained prescription medication related to her medical condition.

The complaint also names MARIA TERESA CASTALDI, a District Surgeon, alleging that she subjected Officer Castillo-Diaz to disability-based hostility after the Raynaud’s diagnosis. According to the complaint, Castaldi threatened to return Officer Castillo-Diaz to full-duty patrol functions without properly reviewing her medical records, stated in substance that she could not be a police officer with that condition, and raised the possibility of surveying her, a process that could threaten continued police employment.

“The law does not permit a public employer to punish an employee for reporting sexual harassment, requesting a reasonable accommodation, or objecting to discriminatory treatment,” Sanders said. “A police officer does not surrender her civil rights because she wears a uniform. The protections of the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law apply inside police commands too.”

The lawsuit alleges that NYPD’s internal Office of Equity and Inclusion and Internal Affairs Bureau process failed to protect Officer Castillo-Diaz. According to the complaint, when she again contacted internal channels in December 2025 regarding Jones and Hairston, her complaint was narrowed or diverted rather than handled as a discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation complaint. The complaint further alleges that internal supervisors and personnel became aware of facts suggesting discriminatory animus and retaliatory conduct but failed to report, escalate, or trigger effective protective action.

The complaint seeks damages for emotional distress, humiliation, loss of workplace security, interference with employment conditions, and other compensable harm. Officer Castillo-Diaz also seeks attorneys’ fees, costs, interest, equitable relief, punitive damages where permitted, and all other relief available under New York State and New York City law.

About The Sanders Firm, P.C.

The Sanders Firm, P.C. is a New York-based law firm focused on civil rights, immigration, employment discrimination, police misconduct, and other high-stakes matters. Its founder and president, Eric Sanders, Esq., is a retired NYPD officer who brings a rare inside perspective to the intersection of government power, public institutions, enforcement discretion, and constitutional accountability.

For more than twenty years, Sanders has counseled thousands of clients and handled complex matters involving police use of force, sexual harassment, retaliation, systemic discrimination, immigration consequences, and related civil-rights violations. He is widely recognized as a leading New York civil-rights attorney and a prominent voice on evidence-based policing, institutional accountability, equal justice, and rights-based immigration advocacy.

Media Contact