Daniela Jampel is a New York City mother and attorney who was fired from her job by New York mayor Eric Adams after she disrupted his press conference.
The New York Post called her an “angry mom who confronted Adams on toddler mask mandate.” She worked as an assistant corporation counsel for the City of New York, according to her LinkedIn page, but was fired less than an hour after confronting Adams, The Post reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Adams Told Jampel to ‘Come to a Conclusion’
GettyEric Adams
According to The Post, Jampel confronted Adams about masking toddlers at an event on LGBTQ issues. The Post reported that Adams was standing in front of a podium banner reading, “Come to the city where you can say whatever you want.” Watch the video here.
According to the Post, Jampel confronted the mayor, saying, “Three weeks ago, you told parents to trust you that you would unmask our toddlers.”
“You stood right here, and you said that the masks would come off April 4. That has not happened,” she said, according to The Post.
The mayor responded, “Turn on your phone so you can get my answer correctly but come to a conclusion.”
The Post learned that she was fired shortly thereafter. The Post obtained a city from the New York City Law Department, which read,
We hold all of our employees to the highest professional standards. In public statements, Ms. Jampel has made troubling claims about her work for the city Law Department. Based on those statements, the decision had been made to terminate her prior to today.
Today’s events, however, which include her decision to lie to City Hall staff and state she was a journalist at a press conference, demonstrate a disturbing lack of judgment and integrity. As of today, she is no longer an employee of the Law Department.
According to the Post, a judge struck down the “tot mask mandate” for children between ages 2 and 4, but Adams is appealing the decision. “I think it’s imperative that due to the rise in cases that we’re seeing, as slight as they are; our plans were to take a week to assess the numbers before removing masks to 2- to 4-year-olds,” said Adams.
2. Jampel Quoted a Famous Edith Piaf Line on Twitter & Said She’s ‘Retaining Counsel’
Jampel posted a statement on Twitter:
My statement is that I am retaining counsel and will not litigate in the press.
Also, the NY Post used the most unflattering picture of me ever taken. Next time I will dress up for my big day.
Finally, @MichaelElsenRoo is a petty petty man.
Je ne regrette rien.
The latter is the name of an Edith Piaf song. It means, no, I have no regrets.
She also tweeted, “Thank you all for your support. It’s been a circus for the past few hours but I am hearing and seeing all of your supportive texts & DMs. The fight continues.”
3. Jampel Rails Against New York’s ‘Toddler Mask Mandate’ on Social Media
We are now entering the fifth week of @NYCMayor @NYCHealthCommr‘s Toddler Mask Mandate, in which toddlers & only toddlers have to wear masks at daycare & preschool.
Please thank these brave pandemic warriors, carrying the burden no one else is required to.
On her Twitter page, Jampel defines herself as, “Founding member, #keepNYCschoolsopen. Mouthy feminist. Queens native. #unmaskourtoddlers. Former Corp Counsel at the NYC Law Department. Je ne regrette rien.”
She has railed against what she calls New York’s “toddler mask mandate” on Twitter, writing, “We are now entering the fifth week of @NYCMayor @NYCHealthCommr’s Toddler Mask Mandate, in which toddlers & only toddlers have to wear masks at daycare & preschool. Please thank these brave pandemic warriors, carrying the burden no one else is required to. #unmaskourtoddlers.”
On April 3, she wrote, “Many parents already told their toddlers that they wouldn’t have to wear a mask on Monday before @NYCMayor last minute reneging on his promise to unmask our toddlers. Kids are upset and disappointed. Mine included.”
.@NYCMayor, you told us to trust you. You told us to wait 2 more weeks. We did. But you lied to us & reneged on your promise to unmask our toddlers.
We are done being patient. We will be here every single day until you keep your promise.
She also tweeted, “@NYCMayor, you told us to trust you. You told us to wait 2 more weeks. We did. But you lied to us & reneged on your promise to unmask our toddlers.We are done being patient. We will be here every single day until you keep your promise.”
4. Jampel Has a Long Legal Career & Once Helped the Unemployed
LinkedInDaniela Jampel
Jampel’s LinkedIn page said she was an “Assistant Corporation Counsel at The New York City Law Department.” She worked there as a senior counsel since 2016, according to the page, which describes her duties as, “Handle complex personal injury actions against the City of New York, include toxic tort, motor vehicle, and alleged police misconduct.”
Before that, she worked for Kaplan Massamillo & Andrew as an associate for five years. She was an instructor and freelance editor for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. She also worked as an associate in products liability for Chadbourne & Parke LLP logo, according to her LinkedIn page.
Jampel also worked as an advocate for the Unemployment Action Center.
In 2011, she wrote in a law journal, according to LinkedIn, an article that said,
Oftentimes, a police officer or firefighter is not liable for car accidents unless the injured party can show that the officer was driving with reckless disregard. This can lead to incredibly unjust and inequitable results. However, there may be a way to ameliorate the results by bringing in the municipality as a third party defendant. This article discusses how the municipality can be liable for the officer’s tortious conduct even if the officer is not found to have been driving with reckless disregard.
5. Jampel Is a Graduate of Fordham University School of Law Who Was Described as a ‘Very Efficient and Detail-Oriented Attorney’
Sunday afternoon crafting. Ripped out the second layer of my toddler’s masks & wrote a description on them.
Toddler masking is a farce and deserves to be treated as such.
Jampel is a graduate from Fordham University School of Law in 2008. She described her activities as, “Urban Law Journal.”
She also graduated from Cornell University in 2005 with a degree in industrial and labor relations, her LinkedIn page says.
A recommendation on her LinkedIn page reads, “Daniela is a very efficient and detail-oriented attorney. I would definitely trust her with sophisticated and complicated legal work that needs to be done on a tight deadline. Her bar exam score was by far the highest among our peer group in our New York City law firm (we compared).”
Another recommendation reads, “Daniela is a marvelous and consummate lawyer I have had the good fortune to work with. She successfully prevailed in our complex and difficult unemployment insurance appeal case against the decision of a judge. – The decsion of the judge was overturned based on Daniela’s smaret and well constructed formal written appeal to the NY State Unemployment Appeal board. I enjoyed working with her on this case.”
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