Status Update

Appeal brief has been filed.

Status Update

Appeal pending. See below for more information.

Status Update – Notice of Appeal Filed

Click here for a copy of the notice of appeal filed on July 12, 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.

EEOC Decision Issued In Response To Postal Service’s Appeal

On September 25, 2017, the EEOC issued its initial decision in response to the Postal Service’s appeal of the Administrative Law Judge’s favorable decision, finding that the NRP discriminated against the Class as a whole. You can see the entire decision by clicking here.

The EEOC decision is not final as of the posting of this information. The Postal Service has already announced that it will seek to have the EEOC reconsider its decision in the case. Once a request for reconsideration is filed, a decision is not final until the EEOC issues a new decision in the case.

Class Members do not need to take any action at this time (October 2017). If the EEOC confirms its decision and a final order is issued that permits Class Members to seek individual monetary and non-monetary relief, a written notice will be sent out to all Class Members. In addition, we will update the information on this website to keep Class Members posted on status updates and any deadlines that might apply to claims for relief. We cannot comment on possible relief available to Class Members until a final order is issued by the EEOC.

Initial Decision Finds NRP Discriminated Against Class

The Administrative Judge recently issued a favorable decision in favor of the class on most of the claims in the case. This means that the Administrative Judge ruled in favor of the class and against the USPS. Specifically, the Administrative Judge decided that the NRP violated the Rehabilitation Act on four claims: (1) Wrongful Disclosure of Medical Information—USPS failed to require redaction of an employee’s medical information as part of the NRP; (2) Failure to Provide a Reasonable Accommodation—USPS sent employees home with no-work available or partial no-work available determinations, or sent employees to new assignments as part of the NRP; (3) Disparate Treatment of Injured on Duty Employees—USPS targeted employees and sought to compel retirements under the NRP; (4) Harassment—USPS created a hostile work environment under the NRP.

USPS has indicated that it will appeal the Administrative Judge’s decision. We do not know how long it will take for the appeal to be decided. The claim process for individual class members will not begin until after the appeal process is completed. It is anticipated that the appeal process may take at least one year.

It is very important to emphasize that the Judge’s decision does not provide any guarantee that any particular class member will obtain personal relief. Instead, the order finds in favor of several class-wide claims, and individual class members will be able to file personal claims in the future (if the Judge’s decision is upheld on appeal). Also, even if the Judge’s decision is upheld on appeal, the Agency may still attempt to prove that individual class members were not personally treated improperly or personally harmed under the NRP.

We will continue to update this website with information on the status of the case, and as always, we appreciate your patience with this legal process.

The EEOC recently issued a favorable decision denying a motion brought by the USPS seeking to decertify the class. The USPS argued that information obtained during discovery showed that the case should not go forward as a class action, and the Administrative Judge rejected this latest attempt by the USPS to break apart the class. This decision means that the case will move forward as a class action.

We are still waiting for the Administrative Judge to issue decisions on other pending motions which will determine how the case will move forward. We will continue to update this website with information on the status of the case, and as always, we appreciate your patience with this legal process.

Over the past few months, the parties have completed the ongoing discovery process in this matter, in which both sides exchange relevant information to move the case forward. While that phase was wrapping up, both sides have been submitting motions to the judge so that she can make decisions about how the case will proceed.

The motions will be fully briefed this month, and after that, we will be waiting for the judge to issue her decisions. At this point, we do not know how long the judge will take to review the submissions and render any decisions. As always, we appreciate your patience and cooperation as we continue on in this legal process.