Postal Service Loses Trial Over Fired Worker Who Reported Injury

The US Postal Service violated a probationary worker’s rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act when it fired her three weeks after she reported an on-the-job injury, a federal district judge found after a bench trial.

The Postal Service’s stated reason for terminating Cassandra Hankins—failure to use a “boat hook” to retrieve fallen mail trays in the back of a truck—was a cover up for unlawful retaliation under the OSH Act, Judge Adrienne Nelson of the US District Court for the District of Oregon held Friday. That law prohibits employers from punishing workers for reporting their workplace injuries.

Nelson ...