A federal appeals court previously held non-delivery lawsuits against the USPS were not barred by federal law.
The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 on Feb. 24 that Americans may not sue the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) when its employees intentionally fail to deliver mail.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion in USPS v. Konan, ruling against Lebene Konan, who claims that racial prejudice motivated postal employees’ actions.
Konan, who described herself in a brief as a “respected black realtor, insurance agent, and landlady” in Euless, Texas, said that in 2020, postal employees “began a years-long campaign of racial harassment” against her. She claimed that the USPS failed to deliver mail to her or her tenants because its employees allegedly “did not ‘like the idea’ that a black person owned the properties and leased rooms to white people.”
Withholding mail violates federal law, and in this case, it drove away current and prospective tenants, “causing the value of Ms. Konan’s properties to decline and costing her rental income,” the brief said.
Konan sued in federal district court, bringing civil claims including a discrimination claim against the USPS.
Specifically, Konan sued under two equal protection statutes and the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The FTCA grants waivers to sovereign immunity in certain situations, allowing lawsuits against the federal government “under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable.”
Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine that prevents governments from being sued in their own courts unless they consent to being sued.
A district court ruled against Konan in January 2023, finding that her claims were “barred by sovereign immunity,” according to the USPS’s petition.
The district court said the FTCA does not waive the government’s sovereign immunity in “any claim arising out of the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matter,” the petition said.
Konan argued that the waiver language did not preclude her lawsuit because, as she alleged, the “USPS intentionally and deliberately refused to deliver her mail.” The postal matter exception covers only negligent acts, as opposed to intentional torts, according to the petition.
The district court found that Konan’s claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act pertain to “personal [and] financial harms arising from nondelivery [of postal matter],” which means those claims are “barred by sovereign immunity.” The equal protection claim was also dismissed.
