Postal Worker Gets Prison for Threatening to Shoot Supervisor
The following information is from the United States Attorney:
February 1, 2008
United States Attorney Dunn Lampton announced that Jessica Sade Delaine, of Cuba,Alabama, was sentenced on January 31st to serve 8 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for interfering with an employee of the United States while that person was engaged in the performance of his official duties. Delaine was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $1,500.00.
On September 27, 2007, Jessica Delaine was working as a U.S. Postal employee at the Meridian Main Post Office, located at 2100 9th Street, Meridian, Mississippi, when she got into a verbal argument with her supervisor. Eventually, the supervisor requested that Delaine clock off work and leave the premises. Approximately 45 minutes later, she entered the Meridian Main Post Office, revealed a pistol to her co-workers, and told them she was going to wait by an office building and shoot her supervisor when he left work. After talking to her, Delaine’s co-workers convinced her to leave the premises. Delaine was arrested on September 28, 2007, and pled guilty to the crime on November 21, 2007. This case was investigated by Postal Inspector Dwayne Martin of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jerry Abdalla.
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 am
more postal employees are frustrated by the ignorance of supervisors and some of the stupid things they either say and request. just yesterday my supervisor told me non profit org mail was considered first class, come on, she has been in the post office 18 years or so. i told her she needed to call mailing requirements for some remedial training. these people are put in the position to mistreat people, to say anything they damn well want, order people to process mail against what they have been trained to do, have no respect for co workers and think because they are “supervisors” they have some special right to dehumanize people. I have never seen an instance in my 30 year postal history were the people have not come together if given a chance to get the mail out and do it right without the interference of some boneheaded manager. In their case the ability to tell people what to do is the over powering need and want and getting the mail out is really secondary. I don’t agree with what this person did but sometimes supervisors cross invisible lines with people not knowing that they have and rather than difuse a situation with some sort of training (they don’t listen in those classes)they expand the incident until it reaches explosive levels and this is the end result, and thier attitude after everyone is stressed out angry feeling really awful is “see don’t mess with me”. Idiots a good percentage of them. But I believe in karma in the post office most of em get it back in worse ways than they give it.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The post office is full of slugs and needs to be flushed out and replaced with contractors. Everyone of you.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Well, depending on how long the “non-profit mail” had been sitting around, after a while of “non-delivery” it does turn into 1st Class because it has to be delivered within a certain time frame and once that time frame is depleted, then, it does, turn into 1st Class mail.
I’m not a supervisor, but, I do have what most supervisors don’t have and it’s called a college degree. The smart thing for your supervisor would have been to explain to you why it turns into 1st Class or have you look it up in the DMM(Domestic Mail Manual) OR have a Bulk Mail Entry Clerk explain it to you.
However, no supervisor has the right to “dehumanize” anyone. If you don’t like the way your supervisor talked to you, then talk to the Postmaster, if no satsifaction is gained, then, I suggest the possibility of an EEO complaint and speak with the union. There are other options available versus deadly force, which this person appeared to be “hellbent” on doing, which tells me she’s not of sound mind, meaning she was unable to reason with herself and what the repurcussions would be if she did, indeed, carry out the planned attack.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
In the 25 years, as a NYC postal worker, I’ve heard of only one(1) supervisor with a degree (a B.S. in physical education)
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
education is what management didn’t use to need. now a 4 yr degree is required for just about every eas position 22 or higher. also from what i hear, a degree will soon be the requirement for postmaster positions 18 and above. trying to attact outsiders with education to fill positions vacated by featherbeders when they retire. it won’t make a difference what the degree is in, as long as it is a 4 yr degree.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Supervisor & employee are both out of line. In this case the employee is again disciplined and management doesn’t have to answer for their irrational arrogance.
It is a waste of money to pay someone Level 18 to run a post office when you could just pay a clerk Level 7.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 am
The first 3 yrs I worked for the PO I honestly thought that this was the real hell. Supervisors would follow me around, harrass me, whatever they wanted to do. I was under a great deal of stress. My only crime was that I was fighting for my job by filling grievances, stuff like that. Management didnt approve I guess. It took a nervous breakdown for me to have for them to leave me alone. Most of them are just plain lowlifes. They get away with everything while we get away with nothing.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Jessica Delanie was a casual employee, the so called supervisor was a non union Special Postal Clerk PS6. There were unproven allegations of harassment. The issue that caused this was the placement of a GPC. The young lady was truely wrong in her actions and is being punished. The rest of the story????
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Oh heaven’s help us. Mailman has a college degree, just what is WRONG with USPS. Too many book worms who don’t know anything Postal trying to run the PO. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Bookworms rule over common sense and postal knowledge
February 4th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Ahhhh………what’s the matter, Postal Pete?! Do you feel left out?
For your information, Bonehead, did I say anything about me being a “Supervisor” or a “EAS” employee? Nope. Don’t believe I did.
As such, I am just a regular career employee who handles all of the AVSEC mail at my office.
But, having “common-sense” must be something you’re short on, right?
As such, I don’t plan on staying at the USPS nor do I care to. When you have uneducated mental-midgets, like they do at the USPS, then, “common-sense” flys out the door.
So, before you start foaming at the mouth about something you obviously know very little about, wake up. You’re stupidity is showing.
February 4th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I can only wonder what the postal inspectors were NOT told about this incident. The 21-year was wrong for what she did but the events that led to this event are heart-wrenching. Allegedly, as a pre-teen Miss Delaine sufferred the emotional tramua of the worst crime committed to a female. Emotional scars from previous “childhood” tramua causes a different reaction. Were the postal inspectors informed on the alleged harrassment? When this incident occurred, the “supervisor” in question was not a 204B but a clerk. If Delanie was charged with actions against a supervisor, the postal inspectors were given incorrect information - check the time records! I, as shop stewart, cannot repeat what I have been told in this format but there is more to the story than the placement of a GPC. If the facts are as Miss Delaine states them, it is a shame for her to have her life ruined twice at such a young age!
February 5th, 2008 at 4:54 am
give the kid a break,,,i believe it was a cry for help !
February 5th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Regardless of the circumstances in the Post Office violence or the threat of violence is unacceptable. We are human beings NOT animals. No one should have to work in a hostile work environment yet “laying in wait” to bushwack someone is insane. What keeps any of us safe? Treat each other the way we would want to be treated. (Not an original thought!)
February 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
hehehe
February 6th, 2008 at 12:22 am
This is a terrible tragedy but I’m sure that no Postal employee with at least a year of service is surprised in the least. I am a maintenance employee with over 11 years of service and it is clear to me that the zero tolerance policy is in effect only to punish craft employees while management can talk down to and threaten our jobs with no punishment whatsoever. Our previous plant manager dogged me out for over ten minutes on the workroom floor, told me to go work on a machine that was running fine and then threatened me with delaying the mail if I took the machine down to work on it. He then continued to tell me how I couldn’t repair anything because the next tour always had to do the repairs because I was incapable. I am one of only 3 maintenance employees out of 20 that has a degree in Electronics in our office. When I called a Postal Inspector to complain he said that the Manager that threatened me with my job did not count as a threat. He told me that if I did not like it I could call the OIG and tell them about it. Just try to call an OIG person and see that it is impossible to talk to someone. Later that Plant Manager was caught changing the color codes on the mail and he was promoted to a higher paying job in another city. And people wonder why people go Postal.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:41 am
As a carrier that works in a very small office, with just 4 Routes and 9 employees that work in the office(including Post Master), I have never been so shocked in my life to see the way that she belittles us in front of customers(mostly males) and blame us for everything(not making our times on snowy icy days to wrong mail in the PO box section). I have never been so ready to crawl under a rock and hide out the rest of my days…she cusses at us under her breath and I guess thinks that we can’t hear her. I think that the strees of everyday problems is a lot for some people to handle. It is sad that some think it is equal treatment to show up with a weapon and demand fairness, but that is not how things get solved. Problems get taken care of by the higher management and the union. If you don’t belong, join now because you never know when you will need someone on your side. I wish that “going postal” was never said. I take pride in my job. Getting all the mail out to everyone on your route and coming back with nothing is the best feeling in the world…remember that, at the end of the day the people who are the most grateful are those families that you service. Take pride and please show it!!!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I feel that the USPS has changed so much and people that were once craft employees but now are supervisors have forgotten where they started. Craft employees are running the post office, and have all of the knowledge, while supervisor are promoted because they know “people.” They feel degrated when you know the answer to a question and they don’t. There is no recognition for all the hard work you do, so USPS employees morale is gone. There is no incentive to go to work anymore. Instead of saying thank you once in a while, they only talk to you when it is to warn you or tell you that you did something wrong. Eventually built up agression can cause people to erupt, as in this case, and the person is then punished, or shall i say the wrong person is punished. We are all humans, not robots, please be aware of this supervisors.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I do not condone the pistol, but can relate to the frustration of craft employees, having been one for 23 years. Many supervisors and postmasters I have worked with, especially in the last 10 years or so are nothing but a detriment to the USPS. They are totally non-productive, lie to customers in order to gloss over service concerns, and spend most of their lives perched on their butts at the computer. They can’t even do a proper schedule, let alone manage. Most of our stations (especially the smaller ones would be much better off without ANY of them. Think of how much $$ the PO could save if these idiots weren’t around to constantly violate the contract!!
February 8th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
This is another zero tolerance policy where the craft employees suffer. I have seen management threaten each other, cuss at each other, and call each other names on the work room floor. Nothing is ever done, even when we complain. Soon as a craft employee say I’ll shoot you or beat your ass, they are put off the clock and terminated. When you check to see why its always a supervisor taunting, pushing, harassing, or laughing saying I’ll get rid of you. You see none of these so call supervisors we get now don’t have to have a good record, be able to communicate with people, know how to run their unit, get the mail out correctly, or even know the function of the mail. All they have to do is pass a test through the ASP Program and they become supervisors. Some of these people only have a few years in the post office. They have a bad work record, bad attendance, discipline in their file, most of them have been terminated and bought back by the union, and then they have the audacity to in the ASP Program and come out harassing everyone else trying to terminate them. The Post Office wants the public to believe that they are looking out for the customers best interest. How? When you have dummies supervising getting the mail out!!!
February 13th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Get a grip people. It’s mail. All you have to do is get it from point A to point B. It’s not rocket science. Why get all stressed out about it? You’d be in trouble in the private sector…
May 12th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
The Postal Service of 2008 is as poorly managed now as it was 25 years ago when numerous shootings occurred and many employees were killed. I left the Post Office in November of 2007 and got out shaken but alive. How many more shootings will occur before Congress steps in and legislates how Post Offices can create less hostile environments? The Post Office would like all to believe that most of the problems of the 80’s have been resolved with implementation of policy to prevent violence. What really has happened is the Postal Service is preventing any incident to get any media attention. In 2006 their were 2 seperate shootings where Postal employees were killed again by disgruntled colleagues. These incidences were kept out of the mainstream news agencies. I came across them by accident searching on the internet. Another incident in Baltimore where a Supervisor was attacked and beaten by employees but luckily not shot was kept out of the media. How many of these type of incidences have been covered up by the Postal Service since the violence of the 80’s? I believe the number to be excessive. This comes to be no surprise to me. When I left the Postal Service, Management maintained their rigid, overbearing and disrespectful style of managing employees. Supervisors were instructed to instill fear of discipline which included loss of pay to motivate employees. Rarely were employees thanked or rewarded for their efforts. Morale at many offices that were poorly supervised or understaffed were totally stressed out and were hoping to find a way out. As I read commentary online from Postal Blog sites I see that this has become a cancer that has continued to spread to many locations throughout the country. The job of sorting and delivering the mail is difficult enough do to Postal downsizing, and all employees being tasked to carry more weight then ever. Mail carriers struggle to get out of the office on time and get back before their shift is over. Clerks have more and more mail to sort with fewer people. Lines at Post Office window service continue due to clerks trying to juggle good customer service with multiple tasks on the workfloor. When you add in the additional stress component of incompetent,abusive supervisors constantly pummeling employees with negative criticism it becomes overwhelming for many. The supervisors are tasked by upper management to meet certain benchmarks at all cost. These benchmarks or numerical goals are used to rate a district compared to others in the entire country. The top Districts get the top bonuses for upper management and National recognition. This is what drives all of Management and produces the stressors that ignite a workforce. When will the voice of the employees truly be heard. The Postal Service does a yearly survey to isolate problems and concerns of the employees. These surveys are rarely acted on and provide little to no relief. They provide Postal Management a tool they could use to make changes. In most cases it is done only to show Management is listening and communicating with all employees. It gives the appearance that employees have a voice but most employees will tell you their suggestions are never investigated or acted upon. Where can employees turn? I say Congress may be the only answer. The Post Office will never change until law suits from employees or deceased employees relatives reaches epidemic proportions. This could take years and more unnecessary incidences. Congress should act now. Postal employees need to write,phone and email their political leaders and demand a resolution. This may be the only way to prevent further massacres.