Although she qualifies for Workers’ Compensation, a 16-year veteran of the hospital police who was thrown through a 3-inch plate glass window during an assault, and seriously injured, has been denied the pay she rightfully deserves for more than two years by the Health and Hospitals Corporation.

Sgt. Marilyn Santiago had just finished roll call shortly after 8 a.m. Dec. 15, 2000, and gone on patrol when she spotted a vagrant sleeping in a corner of the lobby of the hospital at 1901 First Ave., Manhattan.

She awakened the sleeping man, Santiago said, and told him he had to leave the hospital. He got up and started walking as if to go out the hospital’s Second Ave. side, but the officer insisted he leave by First Ave. so she could be sure he had actually exited the building.

When he began to act up, Santiago called for backup and several other hospital police officers responded, including Mildred Santana, Frank Jones, Sylvia Rodriguez, Adrian Melendez and Israel Cerrado.

Santiago was assisted in escorting the vagrant outside the First Ave. entrance by Melendez. But just as they left the building, the vagrant tried to break loose and shoved both officers backwards through a thick plate glass window.

When he did this, the other officers detained the vagrant. Santiago and Melendez, however, suffered lacerations on their faces from the glass. Santiago also suffered a deviated septum (a broken nose) that required surgery, and reinjured her back on which she had previously had surgery for herniated discs.

“I’m supposed to have a second operation on my back, but I’m debating about it,” she said.

After the attack occurred, Santiago put in a claim seeking compensation under the assault clause of the contract the Local has with the Health and Hospitals Corporation. In such incidents, injured officers assaulted on the job are eligible to be fully paid for periods up to 18 months.

Capt. Reinaldo Matos of the hospital police asked the Human Resources Department to permit him to conduct an investigation into Santiago’s claim. They allowed it, and after this investigation, Santiago’s claim for extended assault pay was subsequently denied, even though officers and other eyewitnesses to the assault corroborated her claim.

Her wounds were said to be injuries sustained by an “accident” on the job. This meant she would only be paid for three months, even though she is still disabled, in pain, under a doctor’s care, and undeniably a victim of assault while in the line of duty.

“In 16 years that I have worked for the corporation, I’ve never in my life seen Human Resources take the opinion of a hospital police captain,” Santiago said. “To my knowledge, Human Resources always made their own investigation, but this time they went with his investigation.” When Santiago requested to discuss the matter with Human Resource officials, they refused to see her.

Local 237 filed a grievance on behalf of Santiago. In the first grievance hearing conducted on Santiago’s claim, only Capt. Matos — who was nowhere around when the assault occurred — was present. None of the officers at the scene of the incident were called as witnesses at the hearing.

Local 237 appealed Santiago’s grievance to Steps 2 and 3. Although the agency presented no witnesses and tacitly agreed with the union that she had been the victim of an assault, the city again denied Santiago’s grievance in spite of overwhelming evidence provided to the contrary. The Local is now appealing her case to arbitration.