In a recent whistleblower lawsuit against USPS, the Department of Labor (DOL) had requested broad “injunctive relief, nationwide in scope, to vindicate the public interest in promoting safe workplaces and protecting those who dare to advocate for them.” The DOL proposed injunction included prohibitions:
- against taking adverse action against any Postal Service employee on account of her or his protected activity
- against establishing working conditions designed to retaliate or harass a complaining employee, and
- against failing to train any Postal Service employee of her or his rights under the OSH Act.
Here is how the court ruled on DOL’s request:
Postal Service employees and managers testified to a culture of hostility toward OSHA and its goals at both the Seattle P&DC and USPS Queen Anne District Office. Both the Manager and casual employee who testified — experienced a cascade of treatment similar to that endured by “whistleblower” in response to their own protected activities and administered by the same individuals. Evidence adduced shows that employee complaints to OSHA are regarded by Postal Service senior management as liabilities, as acts of disloyalty, and as something to prevent.
Unsurprisingly given these experiences, the evidence showed that Seattle P&DC employees are reluctant to make reports of safety hazards to supervisors for fear of discipline. Even anonymous reports are treated with disdain. Two Postal Managers at the Seattle facility provided credible testimony regarding Postal Service senior management’s pejorative view toward OSHA. These attitudes manifested in the experiences of OSHA investigator , who testified to the rude and hostile treatment she received in conducting her investigation. A Senior Postal Manager’s statement to casual that “no one can touch us,” immediately following her threat to terminate the casual unless she retracted her OSHA complaint, illuminates the reprehensible culture of impunity pervasive at the facilities where “whistleblower” worked.
One of the Top Managers told a Seattle Supervisor that “good soldiers don’t sue their company.” Another Top Manager directly referred to whistleblower and supervisor as a group of “malcontents.”
Confronted with a record replete with indicia of the willfulness and pervasiveness of retaliatory conduct, the Postal Service has failed to adduce any evidence as to assurances against future violations. The Court fails to identify any evidence of remedial measures taken to prevent similar violations from recurring at the Seattle P&DC or District Office. To the contrary, the Secretary’s evidence shows ongoing hostility toward employee health and safety complaints, and two of the main managers responsible for the discriminatory treatment of”whistleblower” – continue as senior management for the Postal Service, with significant supervisory responsibility over numerous employees. Further, there has been no admission or indication from any Postal Service managers, other than another Manager, that there was any wrongdoing whatsoever with regard to the Postal Service’s treatment of “whistleblower”.
In this case, due to the Postal Service’s spoliation of evidence in conscious disregard of its preservation duties, the Court has drawn a rebuttable inference against the validity of the Postal Service’s performance-related justifications for adverse action taken with respect to “whistleblower” following protected activities. That is, the Court draws an adverse inference against the Postal Service that its treatment of “whistleblower” was not motivated by alleged performance issues predating his protected activities.
The Court does, however, agree with the Postal Service that the requested injunction is overbroad in its geographic scope. While extensive evidence supports the likelihood of continuing violations at the Seattle P&DC and District Office, the locations where “whistleblower” and other trial witnesses endured retaliatory treatment, the DOL has not adduced evidence of OSHA violations extending beyond this immediate geography. Mere speculation that violations similar to those experienced by “whistleblower” are likely to recur nationwide is insufficient to support an injunction of the requested breadth.
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better call saul! that demonrat in the white house agree’s with how the post office is run……silence is one’s consent. shillary will blow you off too with a private email or a bengazi burn down lol. but hey demonKKKats are for the little guy right? just ask pelosi. doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result……is well insane. vote democrat lol.
Sad to say in the real world, it’s your word against theirs.
Out of control Mngt!! Our Postmaster has said more than once. “If you file a grievance against me for that, I’ll fire you & keep firing you until it sticks”. So the employees will no longer file a grievance, the steward as well is intimidated, leaving this PM to do whatever, whenever, and to whomever they want to do it to. There are no checks & balances in place for this abuse from your PM. Yes this was reported to everyone & no avail!
Exactly what goes on at 19026
Well then….kind of funny this comes out now. It will work very well with what is going on where I’m at. The Post Master thinks it’s ok to man handle employees. She just fired a supervisor who along with several clerks and carriers filed complaints with Labor relations. We were all told and advised about the “Whistle blower” protection. Thing is 4 of the 9 people who complained have already been harassed or fired by the displaced PM.
And NO labor relations, it’s NOT a coincidence!!!! We even have the Congressmen involved, same from them basically….and I’ve went through my chain of command and then to OIG for my state. Same song and dance, they referred it back to the POOM who blew it off in the 1st place.
Onward and upward I guess, e-mailing the area VP next…..
Well, I suppose that means each office is on its own. Not that it matters much anyway because management will only behave when they think somebody’s watching them. It’s a curious mindset that pervades management world in all businesses, where higher salaries also mean higher responsibilities, exposure to criminal opportunities and getting caught in such webs whether a well meaning manager wants to or not. Many are hired as patsies to take the fall for the terrible behavior of higher ups if they’re not connected through relations or some other factor that allows them to get into the “good old boy” clique in their location.
Management in the Postal Service is overpopulated with people who get where they want to go precisely because of the aforementioned connections. These types don’t want to work, will stab anybody who gets in their way and know no limits to the amount of ass kissing they’re willing to do to get what they want.
It’s a sad thing, but unfortunately is a normal part of business. People who want to do the right thing have it rough.
If the DOL did not find sufficient evidence to support the injunction nationally, the did not look. Casual employees with the USPS are SYSTEMATICALLY FIRED for filing CA-1s. This is true everywhere. The exceptions are FAR outweighed by the rule in my grandmother’s xperience.