The federal court of appeals held last year that women could sue USPS under an exception to federal law that generally blocks lawsuits against the government.
The Supreme Court agreed on April 21 to determine whether a Texas woman claiming racism could sue the USPS for not delivering mail.
Respondent Lebene Konan filed tort and discrimination lawsuits against the USPS, the US government and two USPS employees. Tort is a wrongful act or infringement of a right that causes civil liability.
The summary alleged that the employee “has been safely owned by a nearby property owned by a white landlord (and) making it impossible for Mr. Conan or her tenant to receive the mail.” They say they targeted Conan because they “not “liked the idea” that black people owned the property and leased the room to whites.”
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Conan complained to the post office, and the USPS inspector ordered “We have confirmed that (she) owns the property” and “the email will be delivered.” The brief allegedly took charge of inspector’s instructions that the civil servants “encourage their subordinates to ignore the order” and that “harassment campaigns have escalated.”
One USPS employee is allegedly notified one of Konan’s mailboxes, which states “the name of the tenant he is willing to deliver the mail.” He is accused of often marking mail as “undelivered” when properly addressed to Conan or her tenants. When Konan became his caution that he had a second property, the employee refused to deliver mail there as well, a simple matter was allegedly alleged.
Conan said he tried to get an email that he was not resident, and local USPS employees allegedly did not cooperate. Konan has filed more than 50 complaints with the postal service, but the alleged harassment campaign continued, according to the summary.
Withholding mail violates federal law, in which case it ousts current and future tenants, and “the value of Conan’s property reduces and sacrifices her rental income,” Brief said.
Conan sued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, bringing claims under two equal protection laws and the federal tort claims laws. This law allows for exemptions in certain circumstances and allows lawsuits against the federal government.
The district court ruled against Conan in January 2023, finding that her claims are “prohibited by sovereign immunity.”
Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine that prevents the government from being sued in its own court unless it agrees to be sued.
The district court said federal law does not waive federal immunity in “claims arising from the transmission of letters or postal material loss, miscarriage or negligence.”
Conan had argued that the exemption term did not rule out her lawsuit, saying that the postal material exceptions only cover negligence as opposed to intentional tort, claiming that “USPS intentionally and intentionally refused to deliver her mail.”
The district court found that Conan’s claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act relate to “personal (and) financial harm resulting from independence (and postal material). The equal protection claim was also denied.
The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, partially reversed its March 2024 ruling, upholding the dismissal of equal protection claims, but allowed claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act to proceed.
According to the petition, the district court dismissed the federal tort claims statute claim after finding that Conan’s claim was a result of a “loss” or “miscarriage.”
“We don’t agree,” the circuit said. “This case does not fall under one of these limited circumstances.” “Because the actions of postal workers are intentional and therefore cannot constitute “negligent communication.” ”
The then ruler General Elizabeth Pleger urged the Supreme Court to grant the petition, claiming that the Fifth Circuit misinterpreted the postal exception.
The Circuit’s decision was Dolanv. It is in conflict with the Supreme Court decision at USPS (2006) and the first and second circuit decisions.
The Supreme Court should take the appeal because the Fifth Circuit’s decision “has “consequently harming the USPS and the United States,” the petition said.
“USPS delivers on average over 300 million mail daily,” said the Circuit Court ruling, “as long as anyone whose emails are lost or misunderstood, USPS employees claimed that they acted intentionally.”
Congress wrote the exception to mail cases as “particularly to protect the important functions of mail delivery from such destructive lawsuits,” the petition said.
Conan urged the Supreme Court not to accept the case with her outline.
It is “wrong” to say the Fifth Circuit ruling “will unleash the torrent of the lawsuit,” her brief said.
“But even if it’s right, a better vehicle (where mail delivery is at the heart of the matter) certainly comes. At the core, Conan’s case isn’t about email, it’s not about racism.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in a new term that begins in October.
