Court Upholds Postal Supervisor’s Demotion For Altering TimeKeeping Records
The Appeals court has upheld the demotion of a Postal Customer Services Supervisor, EAS-17 for altering timekeeping records.
According to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals:
Prior to his demotion in October 2005, Richard Davis was Supervisor, Customer Services, EAS-17, responsible for supervising mail carriers at the Burlington Station in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of his tasks as a supervisor was to ensure that all mail carriers returned to the station by 5:00 p.m. each day. Under the agency’s timekeeping system, every mail carrier would “clock in” upon returning to the station, creating a daily “clock ring entry” indicating the exact time of his or her return.
A June 2005 review of timekeeping records revealed that Davis was responsible for a high number of changes in his subordinates’ clock ring entries. In each instance, it was determined, Davis had changed the return time from after 5:00 p.m. to exactly 5:00 p.m. or some time before that, in order to comply with the agency’s target deadline. Davis made seventeen such clock ring alterations, substantially more than any other supervisor.
As a result of its investigation, the agency demoted Davis for unsatisfactory work performance for improperly altering his subordinates’ clock ring entries. Davis appealed his demotion to the Board. Following a hearing, the administrative judge to whom the appeal was assigned issued an initial decision in which he sustained the agency’s action.
Based upon the evidence presented to him, the AJ concluded that the agency had met its burden on all three criteria. First, the AJ found preponderant evidence of Mr. Davis’s unsatisfactory work performance due to his improper clock ring alterations. Davis testified that the clock ring alterations in question were in fact proper because he only made them when a mail carrier had actually returned before 5:00 p.m. but did not clock in until after that deadline. The AJ was not persuaded by this claim, which contradicted separate testimony by mail carrier witnesses who stated that “as a matter of course, they clocked in when they returned.”
Davis asserted disparate treatment. His claim is that, while several allegedly similarly situated supervisors also engaged in questionable clock ring adjustments, he was the only one demoted. We reject this argument. Davis was not similarly situated to the other supervisors since he had committed a substantially greater number of questionable clock ring adjustments. For example, it was determined that Davis made seventeen questionable changes, while the next highest total for any supervisor in the area was ten.
The court determined that “since Mr. Davis had abused his supervisory authority to manipulate important agency data the demotion” was justified.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
So 10 clockring changes are OK? One is toooo many.
December 13th, 2007 at 4:18 am
Come to Oklahoma, Hefner station, as union rep I caught the last 4 supervisors & current mgr doing this over & over, red handed!!! They would agree to a cease & desist, then pay grievance $’s, then the supervisors would shift to another station in the metro. Every time I would feel the retribution of the mgr’s wrath for uncovering the dirty deed. Mismgmt does this as a course of bussiness, it’s the PO way. This fall person is only the tip of the iceberg. I would venture to say that allowed 1 week to investigate this, I would uncover at least 2 dozen or more just in the OKC metro doing the same thing.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
And funny how they get a lil’ demotion when a carrier would be fired on the spot
December 16th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Sounds like falsification of time and attendance to me which should have resulted a removal. He was falsifying government records.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
This goes on in my office all the time. One boss was caught taking penalty overtime from carriers by making it look as though they took a longer lunch. When he was caught all they did was tell him not to do it again. All the carriers were paid the money they were owed, but no one can look this butthead in the eye and trust him ever again.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Should have been fired immediately…or made to deliver the mail. Demoted to what? The managers are under pressure to make everyone come back by five, regardless of weather conditions or mail volume. Then they steal time to avoid the slam from some do nothing Postmaster. They really should have fired him for falsification of records and teach the other supervisors a lesson.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
That a Supervisor is fired for making only 17 clock-ring changes? Could his Postmaster please transfer to my office??
In my office, an NALC Steward caught a Delivery Supervisor deleting penalty OT from a Friday time-card and then applying the exact amount of regular OT to the previous Wednesday’s time-card, to cover up his bad scheduling. These questionable transactions occured early on the following day, a Saturday. TAC Reports were crystal clear, 3996 was filled out by the Supervisor. Yet he had the nerve to initially call the deletion just a clerical error. When we presented the evidence to the Postmaster, not only did he NOT punish the supervisor, he supported the deletion by arguing that the supervisor had only corrected the codes used, and that the employee hadn’t even worked the OT. It took a DRT decision to get appropriate justice, and 6 months of 1017’s with admissions of 70 other deletions.
When NALC requested verifying TAC reports for the 1017’s, it was denied by Postmaster (no surprise). It took another DRT decision to get 6 months of Employee Everything Reports to verify that managers hadn’t done any more less-than-legal clerical shenagans that the 1017’s showed. But that 6 months of data proved to be an eye-opener, and obviously explained why the Postmaster tried so hard to keep the verifying data from us. Over 250 deletions were perpetrated. Again, with this Postmaster, lying and decceit is what we’ve come to expect. And again, what he said, and what the TAC reports stated, were worlds apart.
February 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
It happened at the Arlington station in Jacksonville, FL and the manager actually adjusted clock rings and swiped time cards to ensure that the report showed the carrier was back by 5pm and he was talked to with a pat on the back. Nothing with ever be done to these managers/supervisors but harsh punishment such as being fired will happen to an employee..talking about double standards..
February 24th, 2008 at 9:58 am
The message from USPS upper management is deafening by it’s inaction on this issue…except, of course for the Postmaster from Knoxville, Tennessee, about whom this blog is addressing.
That managers can delete time as they wish in lieu of actually doing their job: managing. The very act of deleting OT to meet their standards is done in secret, with no intention of ever telling the employee involved. IF the theft is discovered, USPS management will pay for what was stolen, thereby acknowledging that the theft should never have occurred,
But at no time does the manager who steals and/or the Postmaster who covers up the deletions held accountable by upper USPS management for their thefts.
Instead, these beacons of virtue (managers and Postmasters) who are discovered stealing from their employees single out the people who discover their thefts and barage them with discipline for, in comparison to the manager’s thefts, petty by comparison.
The discovery of theft by the managers can only be addressed through the grievance system as “carriers who’ve lost their OT”. The grievance process does not and cannot address the actions of the managers, especially when those very actions are sanctioned by the office’s Postmaster, who’s own position benefits from the thefts.
In the case of multiple thefts in my office, we reached out to the POOM and to the District Manager, both of whom have left their positions…one by retirement and the other by transfer. The POOM, when initially told about the deletions stated that it ’shouldn’t be going on’ and that he’d look into it. If he did, the local NALC do not know, except for a comment made by the Postmaster to the “whistleblower” who was asked if he “…also told the POOM about his practice of not-taking-lunches on occasional Saturdays”. The PM also stated that telling upper managers about the in-house OT deletions was “fanning flames that shouldn’t be fanned”.
The District Manager was a different story. NALC leadership did get an appointment with him after a Steward wrote him a letter, detailing the theiving behavior of the managers in-house. At that meeting, NALC showed documentation of multiple thefts. The District Manager made an offer to pay back what was stolen, thereby acknowledging that the thefts weren’t justified as the managers had argued. The District Manager assured the NALC leadership that he would effect the addressing of the local managers who’d perpetrated the many thefts. It took almost a year for the pay-back,
No heads rolled in my office, as they obviously did in Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville’s “17 deletions” were enough for a Postmaster to demote a supervisor, but in my office, hundreds of deletions were only enough for the PM to do nothing.
In my office, this PM operates under the auspice of “might makes right”. Management’s style is to lean on whomever brings attention to their malfaesence.
I’ve spent 10 years in the USAF before joining the USPS. In the military, the actions of a superior are not tolerated. A chain of command exists to insure that the people of low ranks are protected from bad managers. In the USPS, if the actions of a manager is brought to the attention of a more senior manager, it falls on deaf ears. USPS managers are allowed to operate in a vacuum. While I would never condone the behavior of an employee “going postal”, I can understand the utter frustrations that can be felt by an employee who isn’t protected by USPS managers who are more apt to look the other way when they see a fellow manager or Postmaster treat an employee with disdain and contempt, only to be issued discipline for actions that pale in comparison to the actions of bad managers.
I am more than willing to put up with the disrespective and abussive actions of managers IF they were made to perform their own jobs under the very same constraints that they issue to the employees. But that will never happen since each successive rung of the USPS management ladder will look the other way whenever they are told of the crimes of their underling fellow managers. Rather than deal with bad managers, they instead allow PM’s to operate in vacuums, encourage them to keep their problems in-house, and don’t provide an avenue for Craft employees to attain some form of justice or relief from USPS management.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
The Postal Service of 2008 seems to operate much like the Catholic Church did during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s – a time when the people in positions of authority -immoral priests - would use their lofty positions to ply their abuse on their alter boys and young parishioners freely as their Pastors and Bishops would look the other way or ignore their actions rather than put a stop to the terrible abuse. Back then, when enough complaints were received by a Bishop, he may move the problem priest to another parish rather than actually addressing the problem.
That seems to be the blueprint for the US Postal Service. First, senior managers will spend months and years looking the other way, turning a deaf ear to the many complaints, and covering up the violations, but never so far as to punish the violators…(except for the postmaster from Tennessee, of course). And when too many complaints are made, the offensive manager is transferred, with his yet unblemished record intact, ready to start his/her mismanagement all over again in a new office.
In the Postal Service, no amount of mismanagement will prevent any senior manager from looking the other way when a complaint from a Craft employee is brought to his/her attention. You see, all managers are members of that proverbial country club called “Management”, and as such, only the bravest manager (like that guy from Knoxville, Tennessee) will hold a fellow manager accountable for their violations, any violations. From “Management’s” point of view, if a Craft employee makes a claim of mismanagement against any manager, the appropriate action is to smear the Craft employee’s reputation, and then apply any and all discipline for each and every possible – large or small – violation. Sooner or later, either management will drive the Craft employee to be quiet with LOW’s, Suspensions, and Last Chance Agreements, as preludes to firing him/her. The managers have no heart and no soul.
None of this mismanagement will ever be solved until these bad managers are held accountable for their mismanagement. Allowing a manager to retire is not the same as holding him/her accountable. For any organization to exist and succeed, a great degree of fairness and justice must be present. When managers abuse their authority, steal OT from their employees because they aren’t good enough at their jobs to actually manage, they don’t only steal money from their employees. They also steal their respect, their dignity, and the fairness, and justice of the workplace. They hurt the entire organization. And upper management are the very people who not only allow it to happen, they encourage the bad managers to keep mismanaging.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
This is interesting. I have knowledge of supervisors who entered higher level entries in the system when an employee was on medical leave because the EEOC ordered the individual to be given supervisory training and utilization. Go figure.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Can the supply of able Postmasters and managers be so low that crooks and liars are now getting positions in towns and cities in which the position of Postmaster used to stand for integrity and honor? The position of Postmaster used to stand for the leader of a Post Office, that is to say that the Postmaster was the leader of ALL of his employees. Nowadays, he/she is just the senior crook and liar there to protect the junior crooks and liars.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
This email from the POOM arrived today:
Who is controlling the sick leave usage????? The sick leave is through the roof. So much that beginning today, the DM will be calling individual offices to IMMEDIATELY fax to his office the 3972s for review. HEADS UP TO ALL……………I do not expect to be embarrassed. We have been talking about this long enough, week after week. Accountability is the key….if questioned about an employee I expect YOU to be able to produce the corrective measures taken to deal with the sick leave in question. Failure to hold your employees accountable for their attendance performance, may result in corrective action towards the installation as classified as failure to perform your duties. It is local managements responsibility to hold the employees accountable for their attendance. I have given enough warnings on sick leave and both scheduled and unscheduled absences. Consider this a final warning.
Ironically, this same POOM recently argued with a retiring manager who was about 3 weeks away from his last day at work, and advised him to use up his sick leave instead of working.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
A major problem with Postal managers is that they believe that as soon as they are assigned to a supervisory position that they are automatically wise and intellegent. Unfortunately, the managerial pool is so shallow that the only people who come from that pool are caked with the green slippery stuff that sticks to side of the Management Cement Pond. And no amount of Postal Authority is ever gonna make the men and women who come from that Cement Pond intellegent and wise. Unfortunately, whenever a bad manager gets problematic attention within the Postal System, he or she is transfered to a new office, where she can create new chaos among new employees.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Why is it that if a Craft employee steals, he is fired. But when a supervisor steals, the boss buys him a beer?
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
A better question to ask is this: Why is it that a Craft employee can be caught stealing once and be fired, while Delivery Supervisors can be caught stealing hundreds of times and not be cited by their Postmaster for the multiple thefts?
In my office, I believe that the actions (and inactions) of the Postmaster are more indicative of mismanagement because he is the Postmaster of ALL of the employees. The Postmaster had the authority and the responsibility to ensure all employees are paid for the work they perform. But my Postmaster decided that it would be better to cheat the employees and then to cover-up the thefts. Maybe his need for a higher bonus, or to stay out of HIS boss’s doghouse was more important that protecting the people in his charge.
Could it be because the knowledge of the hundreds of deletions that were brought to the PM’s attention were NOT a surprise to him? Inquiring minds want to know.
In my office, as I’ve said before, when the proof of a Supervisor’s most obvious theft was brought to the attention of the Postmaster, rather than do the right thing, the Postmaster argued against the obvious evidence and lied by saying that the theft didn’t occur.
And he did so in writing.
Now either that Postmaster was/is ignorant or incompetent…neither of which is a management talent which would normally be in demand as a Postmaster in the United States Postal Service. But most surely, he was a liar and he aided and encouraged his underling manager by not holding him accountable for the most obvious theft. We had to send out our grievance for the thefts to the DRT for justice.
At least the Supervisor who perpetrated the theft had the good sense (or lack thereof) of calling the deletion of 1.30 hours of penalty overtime as a Clerical Error. But the Postmaster continued to argue that not only had the Supervisor not stolen any overtime, but that all the Supervisor had done was to change the zip-code of the work that the employee had done.
The Postmaster did acknowledge that the Supervisor had changed the codes of the work done on that day. The PM stated that his underling had changed assignment 95005 to 96005, and assignment 95030 to 96030. Unfortunately for this PM, all of the work performed on assignment 96030 was done in penalty overtime. He was so intent of hiding information of the deletion, that he acknowledged that the employee had done the work.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
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April 22nd, 2008 at 7:41 am
He was probably listing to his postmasters demands, and was the postmasters personal puppet just as the office I work out of, none of them has a back bone, and when they get in trouble the postmaster don’t know whats going on or pretends not to know. Not only should they fire him or her they should have fired the postmaster too. Or at lest change the name of the postmaster to puppetmaster.:-0