Injured Essex County Prison Guard, Mother Facing Financial Catastrophe

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A prison correctional officer from Essex County has been left in a dire financial situation after suffering an on-duty injury at work last year, she says.

Sgt. Mariela Rivera, a 43-year-old Newark resident, first started working at the Essex County Correctional Facility in 2006, eventually working her way up to a supervisor position at the largest county prison in New Jersey.

Rivera depended on her salary and health benefits to support her two daughters – ages 9 and 25 – as well as her 7-year-old grandson. Unable to work after her injury, her income has been reduced from $104,000 to short-term disability payments, food stamps and a $998 Supplemental Security Income stipend for her youngest child, who is diagnosed with autism.

The veteran correctional officer says she has also lost her health insurance and hasn’t received worker’s compensation – and is now on the brink of being evicted from her home.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help Rivera and her family. View the fundraiser or make a donation here.

INJURED ON THE JOB

According to Rivera, the downslide began after she was injured on Aug. 10, 2024.

Rivera said she was working the 2 to 10 p.m. shift that day when an emergency alarm went off. While responding to the scene, she stumbled going up a set of stairs, feeling a sharp pain explode in her leg up to her thigh.

After the situation was secured, Rivera returned to her assigned post – limping in pain. She didn’t receive medical assistance at the prison that day. When Rivera returned home, her foot had swelled up to twice its size. Still unaware of the extent of her injury, the correctional officer decided to ice and elevate her leg.

The next day, it became impossible to ignore the pain. It began to shoot up into her arm and through her back, making it difficult to walk. A visit to get x-rays at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville didn’t reveal anything broken, so Rivera returned home.

The following Monday, she got an exam from a doctor at the county jail, who gave her a muscle relaxer and cleared her return to work.

“But my body wasn’t telling me the same thing,” Rivera said.

Unable to perform the demanding physical work of a correctional officer supervisor, Rivera used up her available sick time and went on temporary disability. All the while, a lack of guidance from county or prison administrators left Rivera in the dark about how to move forward, she said.

In mid-September, Rivera’s injury took another turn for the worse when her entire left side went numb. After a visit to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Rivera learned that she had a hairline fracture and damaged sciatica nerve, as well as trauma from hitting her head when she fell.

During her next visit to the county doctor, she was wearing a boot on her foot. Rivera was told that she could return to light duty. But for whatever reason, no such work was offered, she said.

Currently, Rivera is “hardly able to walk” and suffers from severe spine and neck pain (she also injured her back during a previous workplace incident). According to a recent medical diagnosis, she has trouble bathing, dressing, cleaning, sleeping and driving – as well as doing daily chores such as cooking.

Rivera said that she’s still technically an employee at the prison. And despite the hardships, she hopes to make a full recovery and return to the job one day.

But if that’s not possible, she should be allowed to retire and collect a pension, Rivera says, noting that she has launched a civil lawsuit against the county (see document below).

“I need a resolution so I can move on,” she told Patch. “I just need what's rightfully owed to me.”

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