A city correction officer and single mother, previously praised for her bravery after enduring a vicious attack by an inmate at Rikers Island, is now facing scrutiny from the Correction Department for supposed violations of strict regulations dictating specific hours when an officer on sick leave must remain at home.

On Tuesday, during an internal hearing, Correction Officer Shameka Mitchell was handed a two-week suspension by Assistant Commissioner for Health Management Lashawna Gordon-Dixon, prompting criticism from both Mitchell’s family and her union representatives.

Mitchell, who has served in the department for 12 years, was working a 16-hour shift last February 8 to address a staff shortage at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. During this shift, detainee Robert Ray attacked her from behind, causing her face to collide with the mess hall floor.

As a result, she sustained a fractured eye socket and other injuries, necessitating a five-day stay in intensive care. While she was hospitalized, Ray, 33, was arraigned in front of an audience of Mitchell’s colleagues and union representatives, including union president Benny Boscio. Upon her discharge, she was met with applause from more than 100 officers.

“Our hearts are with our courageous officer, and her recovery is our top priority,” stated Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie. “The department and the entire city stand by her.”

However, the situation has shifted over the ensuing eight months. Including the decision on Tuesday, the department has suspended her without pay on three occasions for not being at home when sick leave inspectors conducted checks.

“She put the department’s needs ahead of her own, and she paid for it with her health. But instead of being supported, she has been punished,” her sister Robin Mitchell told the Daily News..

The scrutiny and disciplinary actions, Mitchell’s sister said, are unwarranted. The officer, her sister said, is raising a daughter, 7, and a son, 13, and there’s no one to ferry them to school and their various after-school events.  Mitchell’s aunt, the long-time caregiver when their mom was at work is in the midst of a cancer battle.

At the same time, Mitchell has pleaded with DOC to let her return to work, but the agency has rejected those requests even though, according to Robin, her private doctors have cleared her to return to work. But the department’s doctor has determined she is not fit to return. As a result, Mitchell can’t work and has been deprived of the overtime she relied on to pay her expenses.

DOC won’t place her on so-called medical monitoring status, essentially a desk job, that would allow her to return to work but not around the jail population, her sister says. Roughly 287 other officers or 4% of the uniformed staff are currently on MMR status, records show.

Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, said Mitchell should either be allowed to return to work or given a wider window of out-of-home hours.

“Officer Mitchell, who was the victim of an unprovoked heinous inmate assault, has been cleared by her independent doctor and wants to return to work,” he said.

“In what has become a typical display of DOC dysfunction and mismanagement, DOC has been suspending Officer Mitchell while simultaneously refusing to let her return to work in any capacity.  DOC cannot punish officers who are out because they were violently assaulted by inmates and then refuse their Doctor’s notes authorizing their return to work.”

DOC spokeswoman Latima Johnson declined to comment on the handling of Mitchell’s case, saying the agency provides “full support to officers injured in the line of duty.”

“Departmental benefits include medical care, support services, and accommodations that may be needed during sick leave,” Johnson said. “While we do not discuss anyone’s personal medical information, we remain in close communication with staff to provide support throughout their recovery.”

Mitchell had never previously been suspended.

She may, however, be facing more intense scrutiny due to prior issues with sick leave abuse. In 2021 and 2022, DOC came under withering criticism after hundreds of officers took advantage of liberal sick leave policies to improperly stay out of work for extended periods.

The department moved to tighten requirements, including enforcement of provisions that require officers to be at home while out sick except for pre-approved reasons and during certain periods in a given day.

According to a chronology provided by her sister, Mitchell spent seven days in all in Mt. Sinai Hospital Morningside before emerging Feb. 14 to a customary walkout thronged with officers.

Mitchell was told, her sister claims, that she had an “accommodation” to leave home as necessary.

But on Feb. 28, while she was at a therapy appointment, she received a violation for not notifying DOC.

Gordon-Dixon, the Health Management assistant commissioner, was initially supportive and the violation was dismissed, but subsequently began blocking Mitchell’s requests and suspending her, according to the chronology.

She received 30-day clearances to leave home as needed in April and May. On May 9, Correction Department doctors told her she couldn’t return for at least a year, but on JUne 11, Mitchell supplied the first of four reports from her doctor clearing her to return to full duty.

But her requests were repeatedly denied. Her full-day clearance was cut to four hours on weekdays and 12 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mitchell still had her child care duties and was hit with with violations June 12, July 4 and July 15.

On Aug. 7, she was hit with a seven day suspension from Aug. 13 to Aug. 20, which she appealed.

On Sept. 2, Gordon-Dixon denied another plea to return to work.

On Sept. 18, she was slapped with another violation while she took her aunt to the hospital for cancer treatment.

On Tuesday, she attended a hearing and received the two-week unpaid suspension. She was barred from using existing vacation time.

“My sister held her composure but she was really upset about it,” Robin Mitchell said. “This situation is worsening her financial strain, her mental health and creating hardship for her family. It’s creating constant stress.”

“The department will work with an officer’s needs and there are processes in place for that,” another DOC spokesman, Patrick Gallahue, said Thursday, speaking generally.

A Bronx Grand Jury indicted Mitchell’s attacker, Robert Ray, in March on four assault charges and obstructing governmental administration. He is due to return to court Dec. 5, records show. Eric Steltzer, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney’s office, declined comment on how Mitchell’s treatment could affect the criminal case against her alleged attacker.

Ray’s lawyer Andrew Bottari did not reply to a phone message.