Named in 2 known lawsuits, $96,000 total settlements.
Ojeda, Annabella vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 21CV05775,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, July 22, 2021, ended July 1, 2022
$24,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On June 15, 2020, plaintiff was working her shift at Shake Shack. P.O. Precious Cummings placed a pick-up order and complained that her milkshake tasted strange. In response, the store manager gave her and other officers with her coupons for free meals. Another group of officers, including P.O.s Genesis Nova-Diaz and Edwin Reyes-Estrada, arrived and placed milkshake orders, and later claimed falsely that they had been poisoned. Yet another group of officers, including P.O.s Elliot Zinstein and Brian Query, arrived and declared the area to be a "crime scene." Plaintiff and 4 other Shake Shack employees were instructed to remain at the premises. An unidentified officer demanded to see plaintiff's identific...
Gilliam, Marcus, et Al vs Lynch, Patrick, et al.
Case # 21CV05263,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, June 17, 2021, ended August 4, 2022
$72,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On June 15, 2020, three officers ordered shakes from Shake Shack at Fulton Transit center. Officers complained their shake did not taste right and complained to plaintiff Gilliam, who offered them vouchers as an apology. The order was placed on the mobile app, so employees could not have known the order was from officers. Yet the officers accused plaintiffs of putting a toxic substance in their milkshake. However, the officers did not get sick or exhibit any signs of ingesting a toxic substance. Yet, Sergeant Zinstein set up a crime scene at the Shake Shack and detained all employees. Plaintiff cooperated and allowed them to search the premise and watch surveillance video and provided them samples from the shak...