Lawyer for the hospital employee on the middle of a viral bike video says her life has been 'successfully destroyed' by false allegations

• The NYC hospital employee on the middle of the viral video has had her life “successfully destroyed,” her lawyer stated.
• “The entire thing is so ridiculous,” lawyer Justin Marino advised Insider of the backlash to the footage.
• The white lady was accused within the video of attempting to take a rental bike from a Black man.

The white New York Metropolis hospital employee on the middle of a now-viral video by which she is accused of attempting to take a rental bicycle from a younger Black man is dealing with an onslaught of threats and has had her life “successfully destroyed” by false allegations, the lady’s lawyer advised Insider on Thursday. 

Lawyer Justin Marino referred to as his pregnant consumer a healthcare “hero” who labored through the COVID-19 pandemic, however stated individuals are accusing her of being a “racist villain” due to “a tiny snippet of a video.”

“The entire thing is so ridiculous,” Marino advised Insider of the mass backlash.

The viral one-minute and 30-second video exhibits the lady repeatedly screaming for assist as she grips the handlebars of a Citi Bike whereas a Black man additionally holds on and says the bike is his.

In the course of the incident, the lady shouted, “Please assist me, assist! Please get off me” and advised the Black man, “Get off me. Get off me. You might be hurting my fetus” earlier than showing to cry, the footage exhibits. 

Marino advised Insider that his consumer — an NYC Well being + Hospitals/Bellevue staffer — paid for the Citi Bike herself and has the receipts to show it. 

Marino additionally stated he would not “decide” his consumer for a way she reacted within the video.

The video has gotten tens of thousands and thousands of views on social media, with customers condemning the lady as “racist.”

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“There is no racial statements. There’s nothing, however out of the blue she’s a ‘Karen,’ which you and I perceive to be a racist,” Marino stated.

The lawyer stated that his consumer is now “in hiding” as a result of individuals are going to her home and “threatening her.”

The lady was positioned on depart from her job following the incident, which NYC Well being + Hospitals — New York Metropolis’s public hospital system — referred to as “disturbing” because it stated it was investigating what occurred.