IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10 2004

JUDGE APPROVES LARGEST DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT CLASS ACTION EVER

Under a class action settlement approved today by an Administrative Judge, more than 25,000 current and former U.S. Postal Service postal workers are eligible for damage awards of up to $25,000 each. The case, Glover/Albrecht v. Potter, involved denial of promotion and advancement opportunities to U.S. Postal Service employees with workplace disabilities who had been placed in dead end "rehabilitation" positions. Employees who had work-place injuries that resulted in a work restriction were placed in such positions.

The case alleged that rehabilitation workers were not considered for promotions, awards, favorable job assignments and training. All rehabilitation employees at the Postal Service throughout the United States since January 1, 1992 who were denied promotion and advancement opportunities are in the class. There have been more than 26,000 rehabilitation employees since 1992, making this by far the largest disability discrimination employment class action ever settled.

The settlement ensures equal promotion opportunities and sets up a stream-lined claims process in which class members may seek up to $25,000 in back pay and emotional distress damages, depending on the year a promotion was denied.

In the claim process, class members will be provided free legal representation. Each class member who files a claim is presumed disabled, reversing the normal presumption in a disability case. If the class member sought or was discouraged from seeking a position for which he or she was qualified, he or she will get damages, based on the year of discrimination, unless the Postal Service proves by clear and convincing evidence that the class member would not have been promoted in the absence of discrimination. If claims are not settled, they will be resolved in binding arbitration.

While it is unknown how many class members will file claims, Denver attorney John Mosby, lead counsel for the class, indicates that his office has been contacted by thousands of class members. "In the end, the Postal Service will pay millions of dollars to the class," Mosby says. In the settlement, the Postal Service does not admit liability.

Brad Seligman of The Impact Fund, a Berkeley, California nonprofit law firm that led the negotiations for the class, explained the importance of the settlement: "While disability class actions are rare, this case shows that stigmatizing employees because of their status can have enormous consequences. Now thousands of rehabilitation workers will have the same rights to promotion as other postal workers. They will be promoted based on their merits, not on their supposed disabilities."

The class was also represented by Elisa Moran of Denver, and Marilyn Cain Gordon of Washington D.C.

The case arose in 1993, when Chandler Glover, a Denver Postal worker, filed a claim of discrimination. Later, Dean Albrecht of Clearwater, Florida, joined as co-class representative. The class representatives will participate in the claims process.

Denver EEOC Administrative Judge Dickie Montemayer approved the settlement today. Formal notice of the approval, and claim forms will be mailed to class members in 30 days. Further information, including the settlement documents, may be found at www.gloverclass.com.