VA data breach may have affected more than 4,000 veterans
A Veterans Affairs Department data breach may have put at risk the personal information of more than 4,000 veterans, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said Wednesday.
That is nearly twice the number of potentially affected vets VA said last week were eligible for credit monitoring because of the breach.
The information, including Social Security numbers, was posted on Ancestry.com last March and not discovered by VA until December, eight months later, when the daughter of a living veteran complained that personal information about her parent had been posted on the website, Baker said. The information was immediately taken off the website last month. Read more
NAPS Letters to Groups regarding USPS Veterans Preference Policies
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POSTAL SUPERVISORS
January 5, 2012
Mr. Fang Wong
National Commander
American Legion
Post Office Box 1055
Indianapolis IN 46206
Dear Commander Fong,
National Headquarters
1727 KlNG STREET, SUlTE 400
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314-2753
Phone (703) 836-9660
As an organization that represents the interests of our nation’s veterans, we would like to bring to your attention a serious matter that will undoubtedly impact the future employment of hundreds if not thousands of veterans who now work for the United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is one of the largest employers of veterans in the country. It is estimated that around 25% of the Postal Service’s 590,000 employees are veterans of our armed forces. Many of these veterans are employed at Postal Service mail processing facilities, which serve a vital role in sorting and preparing mail for delivery.
Our organization is fighting to stop the Postal Service plans to close over 250 of these mail processing facilities throughout the country due to the Postal Service’s current financial condition. Congress is debating several bills that could resolve the Postal Service’s financial crisis.
While the legislative debate continues, the Postal Service has plans for cost cutting that will impact thousands of postal employees, including large numbers of veterans and disabled veterans. Read more
NALC Video Ad: Letter Carrier veterans—Their service never ended
Neither should yours.
About one-quarter of letter carriers have served in the military. Your carrier might be one of them.
Of the 280,000 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about 70,000 are veterans of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines or Coast Guard, including recent service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This Veterans Day, the NALC recognizes these brave men and women for the vital service they have provided—and continue to provide as letter carriers.
“Six days a week,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said, “letter carriers help bind this vast country together while also unifying individual communities, serving the needs of small businesses that provide two-thirds of new jobs and helping residents keep in touch with loved ones.” Read more
Unions, Veterans Tell House Committee: Vote No on Issa-Ross Postal Bill
Filed under: APWU, politics, postal, postal news, usps, veterans
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The APWU has united with a prominent veterans’ organization and other postal unions to urge members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to vote no on H.R. 2309 when the committee deliberates on Oct. 13. [Click here for live Webcast - committee deliberations begin at 10:30 a.m.] Read more
Michigan Postal worker surrenders allegations of stealing Vets drugs from mail
Flat Rock, Michigan
A former postal carrier voluntarily surrendered to police Friday morning on an arrest warrant for allegedly stealing prescription drug parcels from the mail.The carrier, 51, resigned from her job after an interview with agents in May, according to Scott Pierce, deputy special agent in charge of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.Flat Rock police notified postal authorities after several customers complained of undelivered prescription medication that was expected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.Postal authorities immediately began an investigation, according to Pierce. The woman provided a written and verbal confession to the investigators, he said.“She claimed to be experiencing specific health problems that required more pain medication than she was legally prescribed,” Pierce said.
full story from the News Herald
Guffey Encourages Postal Veterans To Spread the Word About New Job Opportunities
APWU Web News Article 066-2011, June 1, 2011
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APWU President Cliff Guffey is encouraging postal workers who have served in the armed forces to reach out to fellow veterans and encourage them to take advantage of new hiring opportunities.
“The APWU negotiated a Collective Bargaining Agreement that will create thousands of new employment opportunities for veterans, and we need your help to ensure veterans are hired,” Guffey said in a May 27 letter. [PDF]
In many instances, the Postal Service is obligated to hire veterans before civilians, provided they are on the appropriate hiring register, Guffey said. Veterans should be educated about the benefits of being a postal employee and encouraged to take the necessary tests to be considered for employment.
“We want to make sure that veterans across the nation are on the list when hiring begins,” he said.
Along with the letter, the union included a short tutorial that explains how veterans can conduct job searches and apply for new positions.
“We are proud to be able to offer employment opportunities to the thousands of men and women who serve our country in these tough economic times,” Guffey said. “I ask all members to reach out to veterans who are looking for work.
source: APWU
Employers Can Be Held Liable For Discriminating Against Employees Using Military Leave
Recently PostalReporter posted information about Richard Erickson, a distribution Clerk fired from his position at Fort Myers Processing and Distribution Center (Fort Myers, Florida). Erickson filed an MSPB appeal under Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), asserting that he was improperly removed because of his military service and requesting that he be reinstated. The case was recentlyt sent back to MSPB to determine if the the Postal Service discriminated against Erickson because of his military leave.
Here is information on a recent Supreme Court decision which held employers who discriminate against veterans can be held liable:
The Supreme Court has issued a significant ruling in favor of employees who are issued discipline based on the reported misconduct of the employee by a supervisor who is motivated by unlawful animus. This routinely comes up when a supervisor retaliates against an employee by recommending discipline to another official, who then acts on the reported misconduct.
The Postal Service typically tries to avoid liability in such cases by asserting the officials who decided to issue discipline had no discriminatory or retaliatory animus. This will no longer be an absolute defense to claims of discrimination and retaliation and the Supreme Court shifted the burden of proof to the employer to prove such a defense.
In STAUB v. PROCTOR HOSPITAL, the Supreme Court decided that held if a supervisor performs an act motivated by antimilitary animus that is intended by the supervisor to cause an adverse employment action, and if that act is a proximate cause of the ultimate employment action, then the employer is liable under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.
In Staub, the supervisor was upset that the employees frequent leave for military service disrupted the schedule. The supervisor complained and new work rules were adopted for the employee. Ultimately, the employee violated the new rules, and he was removed by upper management. Even though the person who acted on the report of rule violation was purportedly ignorant of the supervisor’s military animus, the employer is still deemed to have retaliated against the employee for his military service.
The opinion is short and succinct and can be viewed at Cornell University Law School
Glenn L. Smith, www.uspostallawyer.com
Postal Service Expands Prescription Mail Back With Pilot Program For Vets
Program Diverts Expired, Unused Medicine from Landfills, Water Supply
WASHINGTON — Veterans will be able to safely dispose of expired and unused prescriptions and help the environment at the same time under a program offered by the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
This pilot program is limited to an estimated 780,000 veterans living in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and West Virginia. Veterans mail back outdated, unwanted medicine. Federally approved facilities safely destroy the medicine, insuring that prescriptions don’t end up in municipal refuse, soil or ground water.
“This initiative pairs the convenience of the mail with the safety of a federally approved prescription drug disposal process,” said Robert Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “The Prescription Mail Back program demonstrates the Postal Service’s continued value as an integral part of American communities.”
Veterans receive specially designed, postage-paid envelopes and instructions with their prescription fulfillment. Expired and unused pharmaceuticals placed in the special packaging can be dropped in familiar blue USPS collection boxes or at Post Offices. The envelopes are delivered to facilities regulated and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Pharmaceuticals from this and other similar mail-back initiatives are destroyed in accordance with EPA and DEA standards, including cataloguing and use of incineration, chemical or thermal processes.
The prescription mail-back initiative began in the state of Maine in 2008, and has been successfully expanding ever since. The VA program joins similar ones in 47 states. Mail-back envelopes are being distributed at supermarket pharmacies, in doctors and dentists offices, and at medical facilities including hospitals, clinics and hospices.
“The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is a perfect opportunity to tell Americans the good news about the expanded prescription mail-back program,” said Sam Pulcrano, vice president, Sustainability. “It is another way the Postal Service demonstrates its commitment to the environment.”
The Postal Service has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo, and the Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement of the Year, 2009.
For more information about the Postal Service green initiatives, tools and products, visit usps.com/green.
New FMLA Rules Increase Time Off To Help Care For Veteran, Active-Duty Relatives
Postal employees will have more opportunities to take time off work to help family members who are military service members or veterans under new rules mandated by the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.
The law, signed late last year by President Obama, allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave per year under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to help a family member who is on active duty or is being called up for active duty to a foreign country.
The new rules also enable employees to take up to 26 weeks of paid or unpaid leave per year under FMLA to care for family members who are veterans and need medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness incurred in or aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty.
Previously, employees could only take time off to help injured or ill family members who were active-duty military. To qualify, the veteran must have been a member of the military, National Guard, or Reserves during the five years preceding the treatment, recuperation or therapy.
Click here for further information about the Family and Medical Leave Act. (internal USPS link)
also see New Law Expands FMLA for Military Families