Black, Hispanic Postal Police Officers Deprived of Equal Access to Counseling, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy have discriminated against Black and Hispanic postal police officers by failing to provide them with the same access to the Postal Service’s Self-Referral Counseling Program as postal inspectors. 

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The seven-page lawsuit was filed in California on January 27 by a postal police officer who in 2007 was involved in a near-fatal traffic accident while on duty. As a result of the accident, the case says, the plaintiff suffered significant physical injuries, developed severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has been unable to return to work. 

According to the complaint, USPS provides a psychological counseling program, called the Self-Referral Counseling Program, to postal inspectors but not to postal police officers, who the lawsuit says are predominantly Black and Hispanic. Per the case, a hallmark of the USPS counseling program is that it is anonymous, as inspectors, who are predominantly white, are able to “self-refer” themselves into the program. 

However, the Self-Referral Counseling Program is not automatically available to postal police officers, who instead are required to obtain approval from the assistant chief inspector to participate in counseling, the suit claims. As the case tells it, approval is not guaranteed, and because officers must ask permission to partake in the Self-Referral Counseling Program, their participation is not anonymous. 

“The [counseling program] provides inspectors with up to 20 free counseling sessions with licensed psychologists, who have been vetted, and who have experience working with law enforcement personnel and their families,” the suit says. “On the other hand, through the Employee Assistance Program, [postal police officers] basically have access to social workers.” 

The case contends that there is no question that licensed psychologists with law enforcement experience are more effective “[g]iven the kinds of problems affecting Inspectors and [postal police officers].” If a postal police officer wants equivalent treatment, the lawsuit says, the individual must “conduct his or her own search for providers, vet those providers, and seek treatment through his or her own insurance.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all current and former non-white postal police officers employed by the United States Postal Service between March 24, 2008 and the date of the resolution of the case. Per the suit, the plaintiff believes USPS employs roughly 1,200 similarly situated postal police officers nationwide. 

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