ST. LOUIS – A federal judge has allowed a St. Louis mail carrier who claims he was denied a position and a requested transfer due to his military disability to move forward with his suit while ordering process be issued on on U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan.
According to the July 26 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division filing, plaintiff John Wesley filed an amended complaint in March after his Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act claim against the defendant U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan was dismissed.
"Here, plaintiff's amended complaint alleges that he was not allowed to compete for vacancies or given priority placement status for a vacancy based on his disability," U.S. District Judge Ronnie White stated in the court's decision. "Moreover, he states that his usage of the (Family and Medical Leave Act) was wrongfully counted against him as being absent without leave, which adversely affected his ability to be reassigned."
Wesley, a disabled veteran who worked as a city carrier in St. Louis, filed his pro se suit in 2018 alleging ADA violations after he had applied for a transfer and moved to Kansas City but was denied the new position due to his "attendance issues." He claims his work absences occurred during his use of FMLA. Wesley previously filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging Title VIII violations, and the EEOC later issued a right to sue provision in its decision.
"For purposes of initial review, it thus appears that plaintiff has exhausted his administrative remedies," White stated. "Therefore, the clerk of court will be directed to issue process on defendant."