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Litigation report Court cases
Ritchhart v. Puffer – Former letter carrier Deidra Ritchhart filed this employment discrimination suit in federal district court in Utah in January 2023. Her suit named as a defendant NALC President Brian Renfroe. The court dismissed Rich- hart’s claim against President Ren- froe and, in March 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Cir- cuit affirmed the dismissal. Sung v. Cancel —In March 2023, former letter carrier Mo Chiao Sun filed this employment discrimina- tion suit in federal district court in Brooklyn, NY. The defendants he named in the suit included NALC President Brian Renfroe and the vice president of Branch 294. In December 2023, those two defen- dants filed a motion to dismiss, which remains pending. Lopez v. Branch 421 —In October 2023, former letter carrier Monica Ann Lopez filed a breach-of-con- tract suit in small claims court in Texas against Branch 421. In Janu- ary 2024, the court granted Branch 421’s motion to dismiss. Other NALC court litigation Noble v. NALC, Branch 9, Branch 421 —In June 2022, retired letter carrier David Noble filed this action against NALC, Branch 9 and Branch 421, in the federal district court in Washington, DC. The suit seeks an injunction requiring the defen- dants to allow Noble to place paid campaign advertisements in their publications. In December 2022, the district court dismissed the law- suit. In May 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the dismissal and remanded to the district court for further proceedings. USPS v. NALC (Memphis arbitra- tion suit) —In May 2023, USPS filed this suit against NALC in federal court in Washington, DC, seeking to vacate a regional arbitration award. USPS claimed that the remedies or- dered by the arbitrator, including the establishment of a new conflict resolution mechanism, exceeded
his authority. In February 2024, the parties resolved the suit by settle- ment agreement. National Labor Relations Board cases Branch 455 (Schroeder) —In Au- gust 2012, the NLRB issued a com- plaint against Branch 455, based on an unfair labor practice charge by letter carrier Irma Schroeder. The complaint alleges that the branch caused USPS to discharge her in retaliation for her alleged dissident union activity. The hearing on the case has not yet been scheduled. Branch 5730 (Marcum) —In April 2022, the NLRB issued a complaint against Branch 5730, based on an unfair labor practice charge by for- mer letter carrier Kandi Marcum. The complaint alleged that the branch failed to file grievances for her and failed to provide her with copies of her grievances. After a hearing, an NLRB administrative law judge issued a decision in Sep- tember 2022 dismissing the com- plaint. Branch 642 (Daniels) —In April 2023, the NLRB issued a complaint against Branch 642, based on an unfair labor practice charge by let- ter carrier Terry Daniels. The com- plaint alleges that the branch failed properly to process various griev- ances for Daniels. The NLRB has not yet held a hearing on the complaint. Presidential rulings Members can find the presi- dential rulings in the Officers’ Reports book distributed at the NALC convention in Bos- ton or on The Postal Record section of nalc.org.
Duty of fair representation cases Hickey v. NALC —Former letter carrier Lynda Hickey filed this suit against NALC in Colorado state court in January 2019. She claimed that Branch 849 acted with negligence in advising her regarding the griev- ance procedure. NALC removed the case to federal court in Colorado. In May 2021, the federal court granted NALC’s motion to dismiss. In August 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the dis- missal of the case. Hale v. USPS, Branch 3126 —For- mer letter carrier Venetta Hale filed this lawsuit in February 2022 in fed- eral court in Michigan. She claims that Branch 3126 failed to represent her properly in connection with her removal and failed to enforce an ar- bitrator’s back pay award in her fa- vor. Branch 3126’s summary judg- ment motion is pending. King v. Hutson —Letter carrier Eboni King filed this lawsuit in state court in Illinois in April 2022 against Region 3 Regional Admin- istrative Assistant Jerry Hutson, claiming that Hutson allegedly failed to represent her properly regarding back pay owed to her by USPS. After the case was removed to federal court, Hutson, in Sep- tember 2022, moved to dismiss. The court dismissed the case in November 2022 based on King’s failure to prosecute and failure to comply with court orders. Poletto v. Battaglino, Branch 47 — Former letter carrier Dominic Po- letto filed this suit in federal district court in April 2022 against Branch 47 and Anthony Battaglino, a union- appointed dispute resolution team member, challenging, on fair rep- resentation grounds, a Step B deci- sion sustaining his removal. In Oc- tober 2022, defendants moved to dismiss the suit. The court granted the motion in August 2023. In April 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed.
The Postal Record 63 August 2024
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