A New York City mom and activist opposing the toddler mask mandate was fired from her job in the city’s law department after she protested at Mayor Eric Adams’s press conference on Monday announcing a new advertisement campaign against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education measure.
Sources familiar with the matter confirmed the news to the New York Post.
Daniela Jampel, an assistant corporation attorney for the city, was terminated from her role shortly after she blasted Adams at his press briefing for failing to drop the school mask requirement for children under five.
“Three weeks ago, you told parents to trust you that you would unmask our toddlers,” Jampel told the mayor. “You stood right here, and you said that the masks would come off April 4. That has not happened.”
The mom was pointing out that Adams promised he would eventually relax the mask mandate for young children but has not implemented that policy change. Jampel has organized a couple of protests against the policy with other like-minded moms in weeks past. Adams had held out on lifting the mask rule for toddlers in public day care, while doing so for the rest of K–12, due to young children’s ineligibility for the vaccine.
Adams reportedly grew irritated at Jampel’s question.
A spokesman for the city’s law department told the Post that the decision to let go of Jampel was made before the confrontation Monday.
“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,” the spokesman said.
“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.”
Jampel told the Post as well as National Review, “I am retaining counsel and will not litigate in the press.”
Late last week, a Staten Island judge blocked New York City’s school mask mandate for children ages two to five, right after which Adams announced that the city would appeal the decision.