Knife-wielding migrants are attacking each other and staff at the sprawling Randall’s Island shelter, a former worker claimed in a lawsuit.
Leeanna Alexis says she was terminated after complaining about unsafe conditions at the 3,000-bed shelter where a 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed in January and a massive brawl erupted last month.
Alexis, 28, “witnessed the occupant/migrant that was stabbed and bleeding,” and called out of work the next day, fearing for her own safety, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed against shelter operator MedRite.
“Medrite permitted knife attacks and other attacks on staff members to occur, permitted occupants of the shelter and/or migrants to bypass security with knives, and permitted random people to come in and out of the shelter without prioritizing or ensuring safety,” Alexis said in the legal papers.
About 10 days after complaining and asking to transfer to the company’s lower Manhattan facility, she was terminated, with Medrite falsely accusing her of a “concerning pattern” of not showing up for work, Alexis alleged.
The facility also lacked working heat in the winter months, said Alexis, who is seeking unspecified damages.
Medrite referred messages seeking comment to the city’s Health and Hospitals, which did not immediately comment.