Month: June 2018

Current Status of the Case – Final Agency Decisions Issued Prematurely by USPS

We have learned that the Postal Service has begun issuing Final Agency Decisions (FADs) on individual claims, summarily rejecting all relief. We believe that this action by the Postal Service is improper.

EEOC guidance sets forth an orderly process for the Administrative Judge to review and adjudicate disputed individual claims after class-wide discrimination has been found. (See EEOC Management Directive 110,Chapter 8, Section XII.C.) The Postal Service is disrupting the process by issuing premature FADs. We have filed an Emergency Petition for Enforcement with the EEOC, seeking an order directing the Postal Service to withdraw premature FADs, thus clearing the way for the Administrative Judge to review relief claims and develop the record as appropriate.

We hope the EEOC will act quickly to restore order to this process. Nevertheless, we are prepared to file an appeal from the FADs by July 12, 2018. This date (July 12, 2018) is well before the 30-day deadline for filing an appeal from the earliest FAD that we know about.

What you need to do: The Postal Service HAS NOT sent copies of the FADs to us. If you receive a Final Agency Decision related to the McConnell/NRP class complaint, please provide our office with a copy as soon as possible. We recommend emailing FADs to us at [email protected] or faxing us at (585) 272-0574.

Do you need to file an individual appeal from the FAD? It depends. The EEOC previously approved us as Class Counsel in this case, and we will continue to advocate on behalf of the class as a whole. But we expect the Postal Service to argue that we cannot file an appeal for class members unless they have retained us in writing on an individual basis which is why we have given that option to class members to retain us individually to prevent the Postal Service from even making that argument for anyone who does so. Accordingly, it is a good idea to proceed cautiously.

If you have previously retained Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim, we will specifically name you in our appeal from the FADs, and you do not need to submit a separate FAD appeal notice to the EEOC.

On the other hand, if you have not yet retained Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim, we will not include your name in our appeal from the FADs, and it will be necessary (in an abundance of caution) for you to file your own separate appeal notice to the EEOC before the deadline set forth in the FAD you receive.

There is still time for you to retain Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim for purposes of appealing from the FADs, and in connection with future proceedings before the Administrative Judge (including developing the record as appropriate). If you now would like to retain Class Counsel on an individual basis in an abundance of caution, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling us at (585) 272-0540 or faxing us at (585) 272-0574.

We will provide updated information regarding the process on this website. Please continue to monitor this website for updates. Thank you.

Status Update

Many class members who submitted claims for individual relief have received response letters from the Postal Service. The Postal Service HAS NOT sent copies of these letters to your attorneys. Please provide our office a copy of any letters that you receive from the Postal Service as soon as possible. We recommend emailing such letters to us at [email protected] or faxing us at (585) 272-0574.

If the notice letter you received from the Postal Service states that the USPS is disputing part or all of your claim, your individual claim is to be presented to the EEOC Administrative Judge. The Postal Service is responsible for sending your claim to the Administrative Judge — you do not need to take any action to bring your claim before the Administrative Judge. The Administrative Judge has not yet announced the process or timeline for reviewing claims. We have submitted a proposed plan to the Administrative Judge for consideration, but no order has yet been issued. Until the Administrative Judge orders your claim to go forward, there is no action that you need to take at this time.

Please note that if the Postal Service disputes your claim and sends the claim to the Administrative Judge, the Postal Service’s 90-day deadline to issue a Final Decision on your claim is automatically stayed or extended. That means that your claim will have to be processed and reviewed by the EEOC Administrative Judge before the Postal Service will be required to issue a Final Decision. We do not yet have any estimate on the length of time that this process will take.

To the best of our knowledge at this time, the Postal Service has disputed every class member claim (in whole or in part).

The EEOC Administrative Judge may allow the parties to conduct discovery of documents and information, and take sworn depositions related to claims. If you have not yet retained Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim, and you now would like to retain Class Counsel, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling us at (585) 272-0540 or faxing us at (585) 272-0574.

We will provide updated information regarding the process on this website. Please continue to monitor this website for updates. Thank you.

Status Update

We understand that some class members who submitted claims for individual relief have received response letters from the Postal Service. Please send our office a copy of any letters that you receive from the Postal Service as soon as possible. We recommend emailing such letters to us at [email protected] or faxing us at 585-272-0574. We will be in touch in the coming weeks if we need anything additional from you.