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The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the First Amendment does not shield public employees from disciplinary action for job-related speech.

By a vote of 5-4, the court restricted civil servants’ ability to file lawsuits against agency retaliation over the disclosure of government misconduct.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the case, Garcetti v. Ceballos, which concerned a work-related memorandum written by Los Angeles County prosecutor Richard Ceballos about possible police misconduct. Ceballos said that as a result of his memo, he was demoted and reassigned to an office farther away from his home.

The high court said the office could take action based on Ceballos’ memo.

“When public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties,” Kennedy said in his decision, “the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their their communications from employer discipline.” source: Govexec.com

It will be difficult for government workers to discern when speech is part of the job, said Joanne Royce, general counsel for the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower advocacy group.

Tuesday’s ruling will “inevitably have a chilling effect on the willingness of public employees to risk their livelihood to try to improve the place where they work,” Royce said. “If they blow the whistle or raise issues of concern — fraud, waste, abuse within their agencies — they can be fired for it. They have no protection under the law.”

 The Court also wrote:

Exposing governmental inefficiency and misconduct is a matter of considerable significance, and various measures have been adopted to protect employees and provide checks on supervisors who would order unlawful or otherwise inappropriate actions. These include federal and state whistle-blower protection laws and labor codes and, for government attorneys, rules of conduct and constitutional obligations apart from the First Amendment. However, the Court’s precedents do not support the existence of a constitutional cause of action behind every statement a public employee makes in the course of doing his or her job. Pp. 13–14.

U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee in a letter to Treasury Secretary John Snow, asked for detailed information on IRS plans to use private contractors to produce and send letters to veterans. The IRS is planning to send letters to all veterans who were vitims of the recent VA data theft. Baucus urged Snow to avoid creating additional confusion among veterans receiving notification from the IRS of a security breach at the VA. The excerpts of the letter follows:

“It is my understanding the IRS plans to hire private contractors to produce these letters, giving non-government employees access to the IRS’s confidential taxpayer information. Please provide me with a detailed report on how the notification process will work and what steps will be taken to protect the privacy of the veterans’ personal information. A fundamental tenet of our voluntary tax system depends on the protection of taxpayer information. Treasury must exercise the utmost care to ensure that the privacy of these veterans is completely protected and not further compromised. Veterans deserve assurances that the IRS’s notification process will not result in their further victimization.”

“Already, this incident has proved upsetting to many of our nation’s veterans, who are now legitimately concerned that the security of their identities is at risk. Notification letters from the IRS may themselves add confusion. Letters from the IRS may cause veterans to wonder whether their tax or financial information has been compromised or whether they have a tax matter that needs to be addressed. I urge Treasury to ensure that these IRS letters are clear in their purpose and won’t further complicate what could be an alarming situation for many veterans.”

It appears like too many hands are getting in the pot. 

 VA official quits in aftermath of data theft
A high-ranking official in the Veterans Affairs Department has submitted his resignation in the wake of the theft of personal data on millions of veterans from an employee’s home

According to Gaylord (Mich.) Herald Times: Officials from the United States Postal Service (USPS) met with Gaylord Mayor Gladys Solokis and City Manager Joe Duff Wednesday to address concerns surrounding the possibility the Gaylord mail processing operation is being considered for a move to Traverse City.

Whether or not the move occurs depends on whether an Area and Mail Processing (AMP) Survey finished at the end of April is approved and accepted at the national level.

John Marcotte, president of the American Postal Workers Union local claimed Gaylord is understaffed by 22 people, having not been allowed to hire an employee in five years. Instead, he said, the federal government pays out grievance money to union members whose jobs are taken by temporary workers.

“They just wrote a $156,000 check to this office,” he said. The pay goes to full-time employees who receive a percentage of their lost wages.

“There will be a public meeting before a move is made to Traverse City,” Mruk assured.

Full Story

 In a recent letter to South Florida Sen-Sentinel, a reader wrote (excerpts): 

On May 19, nationally syndicated talk show host Rush Limbaugh noted that many recipients of his newsletter were receiving defaced copies with insults scrawled on their covers toward the recipients.

He then proceeded, without a shred of evidence, to blame the Postal Service.

It is a crime to deface mail before it is delivered, and all postal employees know this.

Let us not come to conclusions before we know all the facts, Mr. Limbaugh. He, who had a recent run-in with the law, should know this better than anyone.

more

Another Way to Use Automated Postal Center

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelerspace/153718290/

Postal vehicle, Delphos, OH

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drower/152108636/

Miami South Beach Post Office

http://www.flickr.com/photos/le848dave/150135726/in/set-72057594141147589/

by Dan Sullivan

Within 2 to 4 weeks the Postal Service plans to begin implementing a nation-wide program examining the status of workers injured on the job who are presently on medical restrictions in limited duty and permanent rehabilitation jobs. The goal of the program is to set up a process to place injured workers off the clock on compensation and then refer them to the Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWCP) for possible employment in the private sector if no work can be found for them in the Postal Service.

Before that, though, Anthony Vegliante, USPS Vice President for Labor Relations, must give final approval for the controversial plan.

Not much is generally  known about what the USPS is now calling its ‘National Reassessment Process.’ Postal officials contacted at USPS headquarters refused to talk about it for this story, referring all questions to the American Postal Workers Union, which they say has been briefed about the program. (more…)

According to The Community Press: On Wednesday, May 3, Ohio Mail Carrier Joshua Griffin-Ayers was delivering along his route when he saw a group of about 14 preschoolers on their way to the library. He also saw the growling pit bulls headed their way.

“I tried to warn the teachers, but there wasn’t any time,” Griffin-Ayers said.

He then got between the dogs and the children and used three cans of pepper spray on the canines while the children safely crossed the street.

Griffin-Ayers was recently recognized for his efforts by Cincinnati Postmaster Chu Falling Star as a kick off to the Postal Service’s National Dog Bite Prevention Week.

CBS 3 Philadelphia reports that Philadelphia police arrested a postal carrier Wednesday after police discovered the woman was using the cover of her uniform to pick-up and deliver drugs for her husband.

The woman and her husband are charged with possession and intent to deliver bulk cocaine.

“The investigation identified the fact that her husband was the distributor; however, in the course of engaging in the sales, he would direct his wife who was in full uniform, to either procure the cocaine from a residence or a car and then subsequently deliver it to him,” announced Philadelphia Police Captain Chris Werner.

This has been an on-going undercover police investigation for several weeks.

Police do not believe the woman was dealing these drugs near her mail route around 20th and Montgomery Streets

According to Lockheed Martin’s press release: Lockheed Martin has been awarded two contracts totaling $9 million from the U.S. Postal Service to upgrade and increase the processing capability of the Remote Computer Reader (RCR) system.

The Remote Computer Reader upgrade will provide additional capacity to handle processing during peak periods. The additional capacity will allow the USPS to sort more mail and create more flexible mail processing options, which are extremely beneficial during the holiday season.

RCR consists of arrays of computer servers loaded with software trained to decipher printed or handwritten addresses on letters. RCR now accurately machine reads 86 percent of handwritten addresses, versus 2 percent in 1995, and 93 percent of typed or printed addresses, up from 35 percent in 1995. It is installed in approximately 350 U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Centers in major cities.

Lockheed Martin has worked with the Postal Service on the Remote Computer Reader system for more than 10 years.

USPS: ‘No Significant Opportunities to Improve Service’

The APWU has been notified that the proposed consolidation of “certain operations” at five postal facilities in the Northeast Area has been cancelled, because they present no substantial opportunities to improve efficiency or service. The five facilities are:

• Utica (NY) Processing & Distribution Facility
• Plattsburgh (NY) Post Office
• Burlington (VT) P&DF
• Springfield (MA) Processing & Distribution Center
• Portsmouth (NH) P&DF

In a May 22 letter [PDF] to APWU President William Burrus, the USPS wrote, “After careful and exhaustive review, it has been determined that there are currently no significant opportunities to improve efficiency or service through consolidation of mail processing operations at the locations listed above. Therefore, no significant changes will be made at this time.”

Burrus said he was pleased by the decision, but added, “I am certain that a fair and impartial analysis of the proposed consolidations would yield the same result in virtually every case.” The Postal Service has implemented 10 consolidations since October 2005, and has announced “feasibility studies” for consolidations at approximately 40 more since then.

“The Postal Services attempts at consolidation clash with the objective of service,” Burrus said. “The USPS has an obligation to provide high-quality service to every American. Removing operations from communities across the country will result in delayed mail service to the vast majority of citizens in the affected areas.”

The five facilities listed in the May 22 letter to the APWU were identified for “studies for the feasibility of consolidating certain mail processing operations” in November 2005.

American Postal Workers Union

Postal Consolidations Information