Supreme Court Hears USPS Mail Withholding Case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month in a case brought by a Texas landlord who alleges that postal workers deliberately withheld her mail for two years, potentially challenging long-standing protections that shield the U.S. Postal Service from lawsuits over mishandled mail.

Lebene Konan, a Black landlord, real estate agent and insurance agent based in Euless, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, claims that two employees at her local post office intentionally failed to deliver mail to her and her tenants. According to court documents, the issue began when Konan discovered that the key to a mailbox at one of her rental properties had been changed without her knowledge, blocking access to tenants' mail. When she contacted the post office to resolve the matter, officials required proof of property ownership before issuing a new key or resuming deliveries. Konan provided the documentation, but the problems persisted even after the USPS Inspector General directed that mail be delivered. She alleges the employees marked items as undeliverable or returned them to sender, resulting in missed bills, medications and vehicle titles. The situation also...