Carol Shaya (born 1969) is an Israeli-born American former

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, whose employment was terminated after she appeared in the August 1994 issue of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine. She is an actress who trained under Marilyn Fried at the Lee Strasberg Theater and appeared in the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''Grandma Sylvia's Funeral'' at the

SoHo Playhouse The SoHo Playhouse is an Off-Broadway theatre at 15 Vandam Street in the Hudson Square area of Manhattan. The theatre opened in 1962 as the Village South Theatre with the original production of Jean Erdman's musical play ''The Coach with the S ...

. Shaya is currently a personal trainer, actress, and model living in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

. She is a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Personal life

Shaya was born in

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to a

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

family and immigrated to America as a child. Her father"Policías al desnudo"
by Carlos Fresneda, '' El Mundo'', April 9, 1995. Retrieved 2007-08-10. and her ex-husband Charlie Castro"Ex-Cop's Angry Tale: NYPD Blue Lies"
by Tom Robbins, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', May 19, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2009. also worked as police officers. Carol Shaya divorced Castro on September 16, 1997, and has since dropped the Castro from her name.

''Playboy'' appearance

In August 1994 Shaya, a NYPD officer, appeared nude in Playboy after receiving authorization to engage in outside work from her Captain/Commanding Officer. On October 28, the NYPD filed departmental charges against Shaya seeking her termination for unauthorized off-duty employment and improper use of her uniform and the Police Department logo."Officer Who Posed Nude Faces Charges"
''The New York Times'', November 4, 1994. Retrieved August 10, 2007. Because she had received prior authorization, the Judge overturned the department's termination request and placed Shaya on modified duty on a temporary basis until the media stopped following her while on duty. On March 7, 1995, Police Commissioner

William J. Bratton William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American businessman and former law enforcement officer who served two non-consecutive tenures as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016) and currently one of o ...

overturned the departmental judge's ruling and terminated Shaya anyway, saying her appearance in ''Playboy'' violated the City Charter and the department's rules. In response, Shaya sued the department for US $10,000,000 for

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

and

gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...

. In her claim, she said that other, male, officers who appeared in

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

, not just

softcore Soft core or Softcore may refer to: * Softcore microprocessor, microprocessor implemented using logic synthesis and perhaps other circuits * Soft core (synthesis), a digital circuit that can be wholly implemented using logic synthesis * Soft roc ...

pictorials, were merely suspended, and not fired. Her lawsuit was criticized by

Stanley Crouch Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American cultural critic, poet, playwright, novelist, biographer, and syndicated columnist. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Lo ...

in an

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

speech."Blues for Tomorrow"
, by

, Speech in

Bradley Lecture Series (Washington), December 16, 1996. Retrieved August 10, 2007. The case, , was decided against her, and upheld on appeal."First Amendment Related"
AELE Law Library of Case Summaries: Employment & Labor Law for Public Safety Agencies. Retrieved August 10, 2007.

Beaux Arts Ball Queen

The Beaux Arts Society (founded in 1857) crowned Carol Shaya "Queen" of the Beaux Arts Ball, which was held on November 11, 1994, at The Liederkranz Club in Manhattan. Joe Franklin was crowned King at that event and the two of them reigned as Royal Family Members for one year. Carol Shaya is a Life Member of the Beaux Arts Society.

Later career

In 1994, Shaya appeared as Sergeant Witoshensky, a recurring role in the television police drama, ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

''. Shaya also starred as Detective Fine (lead) in the

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

film ''Silent Prey'' in 1997. Shaya starred

as Dori Grossman in ''Grandma Sylvia's Funeral'' at the

. In August 2004, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported Shaya was selling real estate in the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

borough of

. Fried, Joseph P. (August 8, 2004).
Following Up
. ''

''. Retrieved August 10, 2007. Carol Shaya now resides in

where she works as an actress and personal trainer.

Television and radio appearances

Carol Shaya's television appearances include having been a guest on

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

Hard Copy In information handling, the U.S. Federal Standard 1037C (Glossary of Telecommunication Terms) defines a hard copy as a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person (in par ...

, Extra!, E! Special "Sex On The Riviera", E! News Daily, The Girlee Show,

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Rivera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, and political commentator who worked at the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2023. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He g ...

American Journal ''American Journal'' (alternately titled ''American Journal: Coast to Coast'' for its final season; also known as ''AJ'') is a syndicated television newsmagazine program that ran from 1993 to 1998. The series was distributed by King World Produ ...

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...

Good Day New York ''Good Day New York'' is a morning show airing on WNYW Fox 5 (channel 5), hosted by Rosanna Scotto and Curt Menefee. It is a Fox owned-and-operated television station in New York City, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox C ...

Dateline A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization is ...

, Live at Five, Queens Live, VH1 "Sex & Videotapes" and appearances on British and German television shows. Carol Shaya's radio appearances include having been a guest on Howard Stern, Scott & Todd, John Lander & Patti Steel, Ed Lover & Dr. Dre, Jeff Fox & Ken Webb, Rambling with John Gambling, AM Philadelphia with Amy Buckman, Broadway Bill Lee, and also British radio shows.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaya, Carol 1969 births Living people 21st-century American women American models American women police officers Israeli emigrants to the United States New York City Police Department officers People from Tel Aviv People from West Hollywood, California