Reading Room Document

Potential Litigation Between the Department of Labor and the United States Postal Service

The Attorney General has authority under 39 U.S.C. § 409(g)(2) to allow the United States Postal Service to direct its own defense of a suit filed against it by the Department of Labor, alleging that USPS has violated a whistleblower provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. USPS may contract with private counsel to conduct the litigation on USPS's behalf, consistent with the Appointments Clause. If the Attorney General opts to allow USPS to direct its own defense, the suit will fall within the constitutional authority of the Article III courts. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2011-10-26-dol-usps-litig/download.

October 26, 2011