Pinckney v. United States

90 Fed. Cl. 550, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 382, 2009 WL 4063758
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided November 20, 2009·No. No. 06-803C·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

OPINION

EMILY C. HEWITT, Chief Judge.

Before the court is Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration of Court’s Opinion — on Damages and Bad Faith filed August 12, 2009 (plaintiffs August 12 Motion or Pl.’s Aug. 12 Mot.). Plaintiff also filed a Motion to Amend Reconsideration for Damages and Bad Faith on September 1, 2009 (plaintiffs September 1 Motion or Pl.’s Sept. 1 Mot.) and a Motion for Litigation of Bad Faith and Motion to Amend Previous Motion of Reconsideration to Include this Motion on Septem[552] ber 4, 2009 (plaintiffs September 4 Motion or Pl.’s Sept. 4 Mot.).1 Defendant filed its Opposition to Plaintiffs August 12 Motion on August 28, 2009 (defendant’s August 28 Opposition or Def.’s Aug. 28 Opp’n), and, on September 11, 2009, its Opposition to plaintiffs September 1 Motion and plaintiffs September 4 Motion (defendant’s September 11 Opposition or Def.’s Sept. 11 Opp’n).2

Plaintiff moves the court for reconsideration of the court’s July 28, 2009 Opinion, Pinckney v. United States (Pinckney or Opinion), 88 Fed.Cl. 490 (2009). Pl.’s Aug. 12 Mot. 1. In Pinckney, this court concluded that the United States acting through the United States Postal Service (government, defendant or USPS) improperly terminated plaintiffs contract for default. Pinckney, 88 Fed.Cl. at 516. Plaintiffs termination for default was converted to a termination for convenience and plaintiff was awarded damages in the amount of $10,094.31 plus interest. Id. Plaintiff filed the Motions for Reconsideration, asserting that defendant acted in bad faith, and seeking additional damages. Pl.’s Aug. 12 Mot. 1. For the following reasons, plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.

I. Background

Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration is before this court following a trial in Charleston, South Carolina on January 22-23, 2009, for breach of contract against the government. Pinckney, 88 Fed.Cl. at 492. The court concluded that the USPS improperly terminated plaintiffs contract for default. Id. at 516. The termination for default was converted to a termination for convenience and plaintiff was awarded damages in the amount of $10,094.31 plus interest. Id. The facts of this case are set forth in detail in Pinckney, 88 Fed.Cl. at 494-504, but are briefly discussed below to provide context for this opinion.

This case concerns the events of Saturday, July 2, 2005 and plaintiffs subsequent termination. Id. at 494. At approximately 10:30 a.m., on July 2, 2005, plaintiff left the Paw-leys Island Post Office to deliver mail to residential and commercial mailboxes. Id. at 495. Shortly thereafter, she called Postmaster Todd Lee to inform him that she was unable to deliver the mail because certain boxes were blocked by people and cars. Id. Mr. Lee directed plaintiff to complete the rest of her route and then return to the blocked mailboxes and attempt delivery a second time. Id. Plaintiff finished her route and returned to the post office around 1:20 p.m., later testifying that “there was no mail left at her case, other than a tub of hold mail.”3 Id. at 496 (internal quotation omitted).

Postmaster Lee testified that Ms. Fox, a USPS employee, told him that Ms. Pinckney had returned to the post office with quite a bit of mail. Id. at 497. Mr. Lee testified that when he arrived at the office on the afternoon of July 2, 2005, there was a flat tub with mail in it sitting on his desk containing 102 pieces of undelivered mail.4 Id. Ms. Fox and Mr. Kirchner, both USPS employees, testified that there were stacks of mail on the conference table, but Ms. Fox further testified that she could not confirm that the mail on the table was plaintiffs mail that plaintiff had not delivered. Id. at 498. Mr. Lee testified that he documented the mail plaintiff had failed to deliver and then left the office to deliver the undelivered mail. Id. at 498-99. He testified that none of the mailboxes along plaintiffs route were blocked and that he was able to deliver all of the mail. Id. at 499.

[553] Mr. Lee submitted a vehicle timecard documenting the miles he traveled to deliver the mail which plaintiff had not delivered. Id. at 500. Mr. Lee’s reimbursement request was reviewed and approved by his supervisor, Bruce Fowler. Id. Mr. Lee was reimbursed by USPS for the travel so documented. Id.

Mr. Lee filed an incident report on July 55 recording his version of the events of July 2, 2005. Id. at 498-99. Mr. Lee testified that he contacted Mr. Harris, the Manager of Transportation Contracts for the Eastern Area of the USPS (an area encompassing Pawleys Island, South Carolina), on Tuesday July 5, 2005, and recommended that plaintiff be terminated. Id. at 499. Mr. Harris confirmed that on July 5, 2005, Mr. Lee informed him of “the incident” with Ms. Pinck-ney and recommended that Ms. Pinckney be terminated. Id. at 499-500. Mr. Lee testified that he recommended plaintiff be terminated because plaintiff failed to meet her obligations under her contract, and that, in his opinion, that failure was a severe violation. Id. at 500.

After speaking with Mr. Lee, Mr. Harris sent Ms. Pinckney a Show Cause Notice requesting that plaintiff provide a written explanation of her actions on July 2. Id. He testified that the purpose of the Show Cause Notice was to gather as much information as possible in order to determine what happened on July 2, 2005. Id. Mr. Harris testified that he issues approximately forty show cause notices per year and that approximately seventy percent of Show Cause Notices result in termination. Id. Mr. Harris further testified that if a supplier, such as plaintiff, understands that a mistake occurred and takes the necessary steps to correct the problem, termination is unlikely. Id.

The Show Cause Notice stated that plaintiff “returned to the office with mail for approximately 25 houses____ This undelivered mail included 53 pieces of first class mail.” Id. at 501 n. 7. Plaintiff responded to the Show Cause Notice on July 13, 2005. Id. at 501. In her response to the Show Cause Notice, plaintiff alleged that “when she called Postmaster Lee on July 2, 2005 to inform him that she was unable to deliver some of the mail he became hostile and she hung up the phone.” Id. at 501 n. 8. She further stated, “I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER FAIL TO DELIVER THE U.S. MAIL. I DID NOT SKIP ANY MAILBOX THAT I COULD DELIVER TO. I’VE PROVEN MY COMMITMENT TO THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE OVER THE YEARS, WITHOUT QUESTION.” Id. at 501 (emphasis in original). Plaintiff also stated, “These false accusation[s] by Postmaster Todd Lee [are] to besmirch my character, ruin my career with the U.S. Postal Service. Please consider the facts, one day he’s praising me for my good works, the next day he’s speaking words of anger.” Id. at 501 n. 8.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Pinckney v. United States, 90 Fed. Cl. 550, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 382, 2009 WL 4063758 (uscfc 2009).

90 Fed. Cl. 550 (Pinckney v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Peretz v. United States
Federal Claims, 2020
Hymas v. United States
Federal Claims, 2019
Menendez v. United States
Federal Claims, 2018
Lucier v. United States
Federal Claims, 2018
Baley v. United States
134 Fed. Cl. 619 (Federal Claims, 2017)
Klamath Irrigation v. United States
134 Fed. Cl. 619 (Federal Claims, 2017)
Lea v. United States
Federal Claims, 2016
Nie v. United States
Federal Claims, 2016
Ogunniyi v. United States
Federal Claims, 2016
John Thomas v. United States
Federal Claims, 2013
Fillmore Equipment of Holland, Inc. v. United States
105 Fed. Cl. 1 (Federal Claims, 2012)
Parker v. United States
93 Fed. Cl. 653 (Federal Claims, 2010)