A Bronx prosecutor claims she’s being persecuted for suing the city over handicapped access to courthouses.
Diana Lewis, 53, was injured in a 2011 accident that broke bones and caused nerve damage. She was the only assistant district attorney in the Bronx who used a wheelchair, she claims in a legal filing.
Lewis, an Emmy Award-winning television producer who became a lawyer later in life, struggled getting to and from work, because of a consistently broken elevator at a nearby subway station and a lack of handicapped access in two of the three buildings used by the Bronx DA’s office, she claims.
She had an accident in the Bronx Hall of Justice, and found the only wheelchair ramp at the Criminal Court was at an unsafe side entrance with limited hours, Lewis charges.
The buildings are a block apart, but getting between them was arduous, she said, especially after a snowstorm.
“The sidewalks can stay inaccessible for a week,” she said.
The DA’s office refused to let her work from home or help her get around.
“They have an absolute obligation to attempt to find a reasonable accommodation,” said her lawyer, Mark Moody.
Lewis began working with the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest on the access issue, and joined a class-action lawsuit against the city.
When the DA’s office found out about her involvement in the litigation, her supervisor demanded she resign, Lewis claims in her lawsuit against the Bronx DA. Lewis refused to leave the job she’s had since 2010, but hasn’t been back at work since.
“I love this job, it was the best job I ever had,” said Lewis, who worked at MTV, on “The Late Show” with David Letterman and Jon Stewart’s original show.
Her Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit seeks $4 million in damages and a judge to order the DA’s office to allow her to do some work from home.
The DA declined comment.
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