On Mar 28, 6:56 am, "Sweet Polly" <udogs...@remove.hotmail.com> wrote:
<mailman walked across fresh concrete, leaving footprints>
> I called the post office today and reported it. As mad as I am about it, my
> husband is seriously upset and wants it fixed. As I said, I don't even know
> if it can be fixed without tearing it out, but if so, or even if not, can I
> expect any compensation from the city?
Um, no. The city doesn't owe you anything because the mailman doesn't work for them. He is a United States Postal Service employee (or, possibly, independent contractor, if you live in a rural area with contracted mail delivery). The entity you would have to make a claim against is the United States of America (the federal government, not city hall).
> This was blatant negligence.
Well, don't be too sure. How else is the mailman supposed to get to your mailbox to deliver your mail? Did you provide him with alternate access? Did your yellow caution tape go completely around the new slab, or only at the street edge (you said he apparently walked across the lawn from the neighbor's) where he may not have even seen the tape? Was it obvious to anyone first setting foot on the new slab that it was still wet and leaving an impression? Would your husband be just as mad if the neighbor's cat, or a wild animal, had walked across the new slab, leaving footprints? How bad does it look, really? And if it is merely a surface image and not a deep impression, maybe there is some kind of easy surface treatment you can do to fix it, with sandpaper or something.
> I live in Kentucky.
The rules for suing the Feds are the same there as anywhere else. You have to notify the appropriate agency, IN WRITING, preferably on the form they provide (called a Form 95) and comply with all other requirements under a law called the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). You'll find that law in bits and pieces in various places in Title 28 of the U.S. Code (the Judiciary), and it will also have implementing regulations in the Postal Service section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that you have to comply with. You have to file your Form 95 within 2 years, regardless of what state law says about your statute of limitations, and your written claim MUST include a specific demand for a specific sum of money OR IT WILL BE LEGALLY INSUFFICIENT and will not preserve any right to sue if your claim is denied.
And based on your facts, I can almost assure you your claim WILL be denied, or at least will be sat upon for at least 6 months (which, under the FTCA is the same as a denial) and you will have to sue the USA in Federal court if you want to have a judge decide whether the USPS owes you money or not for this incident. Also, if you don't sue within 6 months after a formal denial (maybe it's actually 180 days, I forget; but of course you will read the statute yourself to know what you're doing) you ALSO lose the right to sue.
In Federal court, even your relatively small claim will have to follow all the rules of Federal civil procedure and you will be tying up the time of a busy Federal judge who will not be happy to spend his time on what amounts to a small-claims case and who may well take that into account when he decides whether to throw your case out for some minor procedural flaw in your paperwork or in your adherence to the court schedule and other procedural requirements. A pro se litigant (person representing himself) in Federal court doesn't have much chance.
> Can anyone advise?
My suggestion is, either try to fix it yourself or file a Form 95 and see what happens, since "there's no harm in asking", but if they deny your claim, fugeddaboudit, since suing the Feds if they deny your claim would be a major hassle with an unlikely chance of success in your situation. Good luck,
--
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Mike Jacobs
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