By a 7-1 vote, the Supreme Court decided that current law does not bar a lawsuit against the Postal Service for negligence by a Pennsylvania woman who was injured when she tripped on mail that the postman had left on her front porch. The Postal Service says it is re-evaluating its standards for leaving mail on people’s porches when they are away (as opposed to making them come pick it up at the post office), but will probably not change things. (“Woman who tripped on mail can sue”, AP/CNN, Feb. 22; Pete Williams, MSNBC Daily Nightly, Feb. 22)(Dolan v. USPS, main opinion/dissent, both PDF).
Trip on your mail? Sure, you can sue
By a 7-1 vote, the Supreme Court decided that current law does not bar a lawsuit against the Postal Service for negligence by a Pennsylvania woman who was injured when she tripped on mail that the postman had left on her front porch. The Postal Service says it is re-evaluating its standards for leaving mail […]
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Oh good. I see the next postal rate increase isn’t far off…
Or the post office injury waiver form: “In exchange for mail delivery service, the undersigned agrees to hold the post office harmless for paper cuts, tripping over mail, letter bombs, anthrax letters, back strain from hauling out the garbage with all that junk mail, and all other injuries caused by mail.” đŸ˜‰