TRENTON, N.J. – Former Senior Corrections Police Officer Tanya Berry is asking a New Jersey appellate court to overturn a state pension board’s decision denying her an accidental disability retirement, arguing that her 2014 work injury met the legal standard of an “undesigned and unexpected” event under state law.
Berry, who served at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, testified that she injured her knee on March 15, 2014, while climbing into a Department of Corrections van that lacked a running board and sat unusually high off the ground. At five-foot-three, Berry said she had to pull herself into the vehicle, causing a sudden twisting motion and a “pop” in her knee. She continued to work through the pain, later undergoing seven surgeries over several years before being declared unfit for duty.
The Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) awarded Berry an ordinary disability pension but denied her request for an accidental disability pension, finding that her injury did not result from a qualifying “traumatic event.” Administrative Law Judge Margaret M. Monaco upheld the denial in June 2024, concluding that Berry’s injury stemmed from “ordinary work effort” rather than an unforeseen or extraordinary incident.
Berry’s attorney, Samuel Gaylord, argued in filings that the board misapplied the law outlined in Richardson v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (2007) and subsequent cases, including Moran and Brooks, which define what constitutes an “undesigned and unexpected” work event. Gaylord wrote that Berry’s injury was caused by “an external and atypical circumstance” — an unsafe vehicle lacking standard equipment — and should qualify as a traumatic event under state pension law.
• Tanya Berry injured her knee in 2014 while climbing into a state-issued van at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility
• The pension board ruled her injury was not “undesigned and unexpected,” denying accidental disability benefits
• Berry is appealing, arguing her case meets the Richardson standard for a traumatic event
The pension board, represented by staff attorney Thomas R. Hower, countered that Berry’s injury occurred during routine work activity and therefore did not meet the statutory definition. “Climbing into a van was her usual work in the usual way,” the board wrote in its August 2025 response, maintaining that her appeal failed to show the decision was arbitrary or capricious.
The Appellate Division is now reviewing whether the board and administrative judge misapplied the law or improperly limited the scope of what constitutes an “unexpected” work injury. A ruling in Berry’s case could influence how similar disability claims are evaluated across New Jersey’s public employee pension systems.
