August 30, 2023 The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today announced a legal victory in its longstanding effort to obtain relief for a Maine Air National Guardsman who was wrongfully denied reinstatement in his Postal Service job following his post-9/11 military duty. Last week, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which adjudicates federal…
Now that Election Day has passed, the Postal Service is providing employees an update on the rules surrounding political activities under the Hatch Act. Under the law, political activities are defined as those directed toward the success or failure of a political party, partisan political group or candidate for partisan political office. Since the election…
By Ian Smith – August 2, 2018 OSC filed a complaint of Hatch Act violations with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in March 2018 after the employee, a postal mail processing clerk, ran in two 2017 partisan elections. According to the complaint, the Hatch Act specifically prohibits USPS employees from running for election to…
The recently settled USPS case, which resulted in a 50-day suspension, illustrates prohibited social media activity. Between March and July 2016, an employee made at least 116 partisan political Facebook postings while on duty. Nearly all of the employeeâs actions were in the form of a âshareâ posting from pro-Bernie Sanders, anti-Hillary Clinton, or anti-Donald…
Opinion Letter – August 31, 2017 Regarding your editorial âHow the Post Office Delivered for Hillaryâ (Aug. 26) highlighting Hatch Act violations by the U.S. Postal Service: This issue has been addressed by Congress and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), and the Postal Service has fully committed to addressing the issue and to correcting…
By Brooke Singman – August 22, 2017 Republican lawmakers are casting a wider net in their search for wrongdoing at federal agencies in past election cycles, after learning the Postal Service violated the law by allowing employees to do union-funded work for Hillary Clintonâs campaign while on leave. The lawmakers blasted out letters on Monday to…
Washington, D.C. July 29, 2016. The National Whistleblower Center commends the Council of the Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency, the Office of Special Counsel and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for being the first three federal executive agencies to recognize National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The Agencies plan to hold a joint event at…
