A New York City police sergeant who claims he faced retaliation for seeking treatment for his 9/11-related health issues has since been suspended.

Sgt. Cyress Smith spoke with the New York Post about how he was reportedly forced out after leaving work to pick up his daughter from the hospital earlier this month.

“I am being forced off the job,” Smith told the outlet. I believe “what made them come after me was the lawsuit and the fact [that] an article appeared in the paper. You know what? They crossed the line with my daughter.”

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The-52-year old law enforcement officer says he suffers from a chronic cough, asthma, and sleep apnea, conditions he developed after sifting through debris at the Fresh Kills Landfill following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. In a lawsuit filed in June, Smith accused the NYPD of exiling him to the department’s outcast assignment, the VIPER Unit, for three years after attending treatment for his ailments.