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April 05, 2018 – Exclusive for Postal Employee Network (PEN)<\/strong> – Class Counsel in the NRP Class Action, also known as McConnell v. USPS class action, write to provide an important update. We won the case, but now there is a very short deadline for individual Class Members to submit claims for money awards and other monetary and non-monetary relief. Please spread this time-sensitive news ASAP to your current and former USPS co-workers, especially anyone who is now retired or otherwise may not receive updates through the mail.<\/p>\n UPDATE SUMMARY.<\/strong> The opportunity for Class Members in the NRP Class Action to file claims for relief is still open, and we encourage every person who was reviewed under the NRP to submit a written claim. To be safe, we recommend that written claims BE MAILED TO THE POSTAL SERVICE BY APRIL 12, 2018. The deadline set by the EEOC for submitting a claim to the USPS is 30 days after an individual receives a notice from the USPS about the EEOC decision. We have provided and published a suggested Claim Form, which can be found at NRPclassaction.com.<\/p>\n THIS IS NOT A SETTLEMENT.<\/strong> The Class has not settled this case. After years of hard-fought litigation, the EEOC found that the USPS discriminated against the Class as a whole when it ran the National Reassessment Process between May 5, 2006 and July 1, 2011. Because the EEOC found class-wide discrimination, each Class Member may now submit a claim seeking individual money damages, lost pay, and other relief. Monetary relief is available to all Class Members who submit a timely claim. Failure to submit a timely claim to the Postal Service jeopardizes your opportunity to receive any relief in this case. There is no guarantee that any individual Class Member will receive a particular monetary recovery, or any monetary relief at all. But now is the time for all Class Members to file individual claims.<\/p>\n WHAT FORM TO USE FOR YOUR CLAIM.<\/strong> The EEOC order states that Class Members must submit a written claim to the Postal Service by the 30-day deadline. USPS sent out a version of a claim form that includes very little information. Class Counsel has provided and published a suggested Claim Form, which includes far more information to set the basis for your claim. We suggest that you use the content of our suggested Claim Form, as it seeks to cover all aspects of relief to which you may be entitled.<\/p>\n You may submit both the USPS claim form and the Class Counsel Claim Form. If you already submitted the USPS claim form, you can still submit the Class Counsel Claim Form as well. You may submit additional information or documents with your Claim Form. The most critical thing is for you to submit a Claim Form by the 30-day deadline. The mailing address for submitting your Claim Form is: NEEOISO c\/o MSI, P.O. Box 3787, Greenwood Village, CO 80155.<\/p>\n We also ask that you keep a copy of your Claim Form, and send a copy of your Claim Form to Class Counsel at the following address: Thomas & Solomon, 693 East Ave, Rochester NY 14607.<\/p>\n We recommend that you claim back pay if the NRP and\/or its consequences resulted in a reduction in your pay, benefits, or work hours. In addition, we recommend that you claim back pay if you resigned or retired as a result of the NRP and\/or its consequences. If you are not sure, you should claim back pay in order to preserve your claim. You must submit a timely written claim to the Postal Service in order to be considered for an award of back pay. You should indicate on your Claim Form that you seek an award of back pay for all past and future pay and benefits you lost as a result of the NRP. If you use Class Counsel\u2019s suggested Claim Form, you will be making a claim for back pay. You DO NOT need to calculate the amount of lost pay and benefits at this time. If you file a timely claim, and if you are entitled to back pay, the Postal Service is required to prepare a calculation of your back pay as part of the claim process. The Postal Service may require you to cooperate in the back pay calculation process, and may require you to provide information related to back pay. If you disagree with the Postal Service\u2019s calculation of back pay, you will have an opportunity to appeal.<\/p>\n WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER HIRING COUNSEL TO REPRESENT YOU IN THIS PROCESS.<\/strong> Based on the Postal Service\u2019s vigorous defense of the NRP for more than ten years, we believe the Postal Service will probably dispute every claim for individual relief. You may submit your claim without hiring a lawyer. But if you would like to hire us for your individual claim, we are agreeing to represent each individual Class Member who retains us through the individual EEOC claims process. If you decide to hire us, we would charge you a contingency fee of 30%. The 30% contingency fee covers the additional work we will perform on your behalf to help you obtain the money and other relief you may be entitled to receive as a Class Member. If you hire us for your individual claim, our work includes representing you through the entire EEOC claims process. If you decide to hire us and the Postal Service disputes your claim (which we assume the agency will do with respect to every claim), we will represent you in proceedings against the Postal Service. If you decide to hire us, we will represent you before an EEOC Administrative Judge, and we will conduct discovery and an investigation into your claim, based on the information we already have about the case and in seeking new information and records related to your claim. The Judge may wish for a live hearing to determine the proper award for your claim. If you are unsatisfied with the Postal Service’s final decision on your claim, which would come after the EEOC Judge makes a determination, we would represent you in an appeal of that decision to the EEOC in Washington.<\/p>\n HOW THE CONTINGENCY FEE PAYMENT WORKS.<\/strong> A contingency fee is only paid if we obtain a recovery for you. If you receive nothing as a result of your claim, you would owe us nothing. If we do get a recovery for you, we would be entitled to 30% of the gross, pre-tax amount of the final award that you receive in this case. If the EEOC orders the Postal Service to pay attorney fees related to your claim, those fees would come directly to us and would not relate in any way to the 30% contingency fee payment.<\/p>\n Our 30% contingency fee WILL NOT be applied to any part of your recovery that you are required to pay back to the United States due to alleged overpayment to you by OWCP or OPM or Social Security.<\/p>\n Of course, we are unable to predict what the final outcome will be. If the case settles at some point in the future, we would seek to have the Postal Service pay all of the attorney\u2019s fees in this case so that the Class Members do not have to pay contingency fees to us from individual recoveries. At the present time, though, because there is no settlement, we are prepared to represent Class Members on an individual basis to make your claim for recovery on a contingency fee basis.<\/p>\n If you would like to hire us to represent you on your individual claim, you should: use Class Counsel\u2019s suggested Claim Form that we sent by mail (which can also be found at NRPclassaction.com); send the signed, completed Claim Form to the Postal Service; and send a copy of the signed, completed Claim Form to us, thus indicating your agreement to have us represent you for your individual claim.<\/p>\n THIS PROCESS WILL PROBABLY TAKE TIME.<\/strong> The EEOC order requires the USPS to make a determination on what relief the USPS believes a Class Member is entitled to within 90 days of receiving a written claim. However, the EEOC rules provide that if the Postal Service \u201cdisputes\u201d a Class Member\u2019s claim, the matter is sent to an EEOC administrative judge and the 90-day deadline is stopped. The Postal Service attorneys have fought very hard throughout this case, and Class Counsel expects the Postal Service to engage in a lengthy fight over individual Class Member claims as well.<\/p>\n WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION.<\/strong> Class Counsel\u2019s website for this case is NRPclassaction.com. On that site, you can find Class Counsel\u2019s suggested Claim Form, information about the claims process, and the answers to many questions on the FAQ page (by clicking the FAQ tab at the top of the page). You may also call us to speak with us at 585-272-0540 or toll free at 877-272-4066.<\/p>\n Article provided to PostalEmployeeNetwork.com.<\/strong>\u00a0May not be reproduced or copied without prior consent of Postal Employee Network (PEN). Copies for personal use are allowed – but may not be reposted on any forum, message board, or website. Please reference Postal Employee Network (PEN) and provide a link to this page to share with others. Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n
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