United States Post Office Archives

An appeal has been filed with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by a former United States Postal Worker who lost his job when he resisted orders that would force him to work on his Sabbath, Sundays.

Officials with First Liberty Institute say the appeal was filed in the case involve Gerald E. Groff, who had held a USPS position in Pennsylvania for nearly a decade.

“It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion,” said Hiram Sasser, of First Liberty. “The USPS should have recognized Gerald’s sincerely held belief that he must observe the Sunday Sabbath and granted him a religious exemption. We must protect the rights of every American to practice their faith without fear of losing their job.” . . .

Groff had started working at the Quarryville Post Office in Lancaster County in 2012, and was a Rural Carrier Associate.

He asked for a religious accommodation to observe Sunday Sabbath and it was granted. (Read more from “Postal Worker Refused Accommodation by Employer to Not Work on Sabbath, Fired” HERE)

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Photo credit: Gerry Dincher

The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency’s solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink.

With cash running perilously low, two legally required payments for future postal retirees’ health benefits — $5.5 billion due Wednesday, and another $5.6 billion due in September — will be left unpaid, the mail agency said Monday. Postal officials said they also are studying whether they may need to delay other obligations. In the coming months, a $1.5 billion payment is due to the Labor Department for workers compensation, which for now it expects to make, as well as millions in interest payments to the Treasury.

The defaults won’t stir any kind of catastrophe in day-to-day mail service. Post offices will stay open, mail trucks will run, employees will get paid, current retirees will get health benefits.

But a growing chorus of analysts, labor unions and business customers are troubled by continuing losses that point to deeper, longer-term financial damage, as the mail agency finds it increasingly preoccupied with staving off immediate bankruptcy while Congress delays on a postal overhaul bill.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has described a “crisis of confidence” amid the mounting red ink that could lead even once-loyal customers to abandon use of the mail.

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Postal Worker Refused Accommodation by Employer to Not Work on Sabbath, Fired

US Postal Service preparing for first-ever default, will miss billions in payments