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It’s generally hard to sue America Postal Service To be lost, delayed or mishandled Match,
But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a Texas landlord who alleged his mail was intentionally withheld for two years is being challenged.
The cash-strapped Postal Service says the action could lead to a flood of lawsuits over what is a very common, if frustrating, phenomenon: lost mail.
This concern particularly resonates during the holiday season, when mail volume – ranging from Christmas cards to Black Friday shopping to billions of sentimental items – increases.
The case focuses on whether the special postal exemption in the Federal Tort Claims Act applies when postal employees knowingly fail to deliver letters and packages.
“I think, we’re going to have to face a lot of suits about the mail,” said Frederick Liu, an assistant to the company. solicitor General For Department of Justicewarned the justices during oral arguments last month.
He predicted that if the landlord won the case, people would speculate that their mail did not arrive because of “the rude comment they heard, or what have you.”
Federal tort law allows a private person to sue the federal Government For monetary damages if a federal employee acts negligently and causes injury to them or damages their property.
But Congress The law created several exceptions, including one for the Postal Service, which protects it from lawsuits over lost or delayed mail. The exception states that the Post Office cannot be sued for “loss, misappropriation or negligent transmission of letters or postal material”. The definitions of those terms have become the crux of the case before the Supreme Court.
Last month, some judges were seen questioning the government’s claim USPS Are protected from such lawsuits. But concerns were raised about opening the door to frivolous litigation. Justice Samuel Alito suggested that people might believe that carriers intentionally did not deliver the mail because they did not get any tips on Christmas or were afraid of a “big dog running up to the door.”
“What will be the consequences if all these lawsuits are filed and prosecuted?” Alito asked. “Will a first-class letter now cost $3?”.
Two-year battle over missing mail
The landlord’s lawyer Isha Anand has accused the government of “fear-mongering about endless litigation”.
He argued that it is unusual for someone to experience the level of abuse suffered by Leben Konan and argued that the USPS would still retain immunity for most postal damages even if the court ruled in the landlord’s favor.
“I think these types of charges would be rare,” he said in court.
Conan, a landlord, real estate agent, and insurance agent, claims two employees at a post office in Euless, Texas. Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex intentionally did not deliver her and her tenants’ mail because she alleges they did not like that she was black and owned multiple properties.
According to court documents, the dispute began when Conan discovered that the key to the mailbox at one of her rental properties had been changed without her knowledge, preventing her from collecting and delivering tenants’ mail from the box. When she contacted the local post office, she was told that she would not receive new keys or regular deliveries unless she proved that the property belonged to her.
Documents say he did so, but despite instructions from the USPS Inspector General to deliver the mail, mail problems continued.
Conan alleges that employees marked some mail as undeliverable or returned to sender. According to the lawsuit, Conan and his tenants failed to receive important mail such as bills, medications and car titles. Konan also claims that his rental income dried up as some tenants moved out due to the situation.
After filing dozens of complaints with postal authorities, Conan eventually filed suit under the 1946 Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which has now reached the nation’s highest court. A decision in this matter is expected next year.
Konan, contacted by email, declined to comment as the case is still pending, on the advice of his lawyer.
Does postage discount apply or not?
While a federal district court in Texas rejected Conan’s FTCA claims, arguing that they fell under the postal exemption, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed part of that decision last year.
The judge disagreed with the lower court’s ruling that Conan’s claims were dismissed because they arose from “harm” or “abortion.” Rather, the judges said Conan’s case did not fall into one of those “limited situations” because it involved an intentional act of not delivering mail.
The judges wrote, “Because the alleged conduct in this case does not fall within the exceptions to ‘harm, miscarry, or negligent transmission,’ sovereign immunity does not bar Conan’s FTCA claims.”
The appellate court upheld the lower court’s decision to dismiss Conan’s separate claim against individual postal workers.
The USPS, which declined to comment, appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kevin Kosar, a senior partner American The Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank that studies postal matters, said they believe it is wrong for the government to argue that postal exemptions cover intentional failure to deliver mail.
Kosar said he also doubted that there would be a flood of lawsuits if the court ruled narrowly in the case, questioning whether aggrieved postal customers could even find a lawyer willing to sue the USPS.
He asked: “For example, what lawyer wants to file a lawsuit and spend years in the courts because someone spent 78 cents on a first-class ticket and lost their letter?”