McConnell EEOC Class Action Still Pending For Postal Employees

In 2006, Sandra McConnell was reviewed under the NRP in the USPS Western New York District. Ms. McConnell had been working in a rehabilitation modified carrier position for over eight years. However, after the NRP review,  McConnell was stripped of her modified position and ordered to go home with “no work available.”

McConnell filed a class action discrimination complaint under the Rehabilitation Act on behalf of all USPS workers affected by the NRP. The disability discrimination class action was certified by the EEOC Administrative Judge in 2008. After the USPS appealed that decision, the EEOC again granted certification of the class action in 2010.

In July 2012 EEOC rejected an attempt by USPS to break apart the McConnell class. USPS had filed a motion to redefine the class, and force certain McConnell class members to bring their claims before the Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”). But EEOC Administrative Judge (AJ) denied USPS’s motion in its entirety.

After the Administrative Judge’s ruling, USPS attorneys sought to appeal the ruling to the EEOC Office of Federal Operations. The EEOC denied the USPS appeal in 2013.

USPS keeps trying to stall EEO case in 2015

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…… 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.

The attorneys for McConnell,etal are still waiting for the EEOC Administrative Judge to issue decisions on other pending motions which will determine how the case will move forward.

FYI

You are a member of the McConnell class if: You are or were a permanent rehabilitation or limited duty employee of the Postal Service who was subjected to the NRP from May 5, 2006 through July 1, 2011.