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Joan Najbar Suing Gov for Letter Falsely Stamped "DECEASED"
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by Scott Wu | December 2, 2009 at 03:31 pm
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Joan Najbar is suing the federal government for returning a letter she sent her son stationed in Iraq, with a "DECEASED" stamp on it. Joan Najbar's son, Sam Eininger, was in fact not killed, and the "DECEASED" stamp was proven to be an error. Joan Najbar claimed $118,000 in damages against the US Postal Service in 2008, but was denied twice.
According to the suit, Najbar mailed a letter to her son on Sept. 29, 2006. It came back to her about two weeks later with "DECEASED" stamped in red on the front of the envelope.
Najbar never received a letter fo apology or explanation from the US Postal Service. She filed a federal lawsuit last month.
Joan Najbar is a vocal critic of US military policy. Najbar's attorney is investigating if the incident was a prank responding to Najbar's war protest few days earlier.
Najbar's attorney, Jeff Eckland in Minneapolis, said he is looking into whether the stamping of the envelope is connected to Najbar's war protest a few days earlier on the steps of the main post office in Duluth.
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at 13:08 on December 4th, 2009
Joan Najbar is attacking the wrong target. The Post Office was simply the messenger returning a letter endorsed "deceased" by the military or it's designated contractor handeling mail in Iraq. The "deceased" marking would have been applied near the intended delivery point ( in Iraq ) by the military. The Post Office has no way of knowing the condition of a particular service member, in fact the Post Office doesn't even know where each APO unit is ( a unique zip code is assigned to each unit, and that unit's location may be classified). The Post Office transfers mail to the military within the borders of the US and receives back incoming or returned mail in the same way. Any return endorsement was applied overseas. Joan Najbar needs to seek her redress from the appropriate and responsible party ( the military unit handleing her sons mail !!!).