Numerous Cases of Postal Service Private Misconduct

The stolid image of the U.S. Postal Service is being tainted by stories of employees’ private misconduct. Last year, the USPS inspector general investigated numerous assault cases within the agency, which the Washington Examiner discovered using the Freedom of Information Act.

One case involved a Maine mail carrier who propositioned a female customer by giving her a selfie in which he was dressed in drag, asking her if she liked men that did so. He followed his amorous proposal by calling her and asking her out; rebuffed, he didn’t drop off her mail in her mailbox, but went straight to her door and attempted to kiss her when she answered. He tried the same trick twice more before she refused to answer the door. When she finally reported him, he hired a lawyer and would not speak to the inspector general, prompting administrative action. The outcome is still unknown.

In another case, a mail carrier was accused of sidling up to children and then sexually assaulting them while on his route. He pleaded guilty to simple assault, but of the twelve months in the county jail to which he was sentenced, eleven were later suspended. He only served one. The Postal Service did fire him.

A third case was the story of an Ohio postal employee claiming her ex-husband, a fellow employee, raped her on government property. An investigation found the act consensual; they had simply found a locked back room to reconsummate their vows. The woman was reportedly jealous because her ex-husband had started seeing another employee.

One incident occurred when a sales associate, in trouble for returning late from lunch, slashed the tires of another employee’s car and damaged the fender. The sales associate later gave himself up to the New York Police Department and had to pay restitution.

One last story involved a maintenance manager slamming a custodian in the back of the head, which, added to an injury the custodian already received the night before at home, sent her to the hospital. When the custodian tried to file an on-the-job injury, the maintenance supervisor pushed her to be silent. Finally, the manager talked to Human Resources to allow the report in order “to protect the agency.” The supervisor claimed the reason for her stonewalling the report had been that the initial injury occurred at home.