The U.S. Postal Service has rejected a damage claim filed by an injured Brentwood Road postal center employee, paving the way for a possible lawsuit against the agency, according to the Washington Post.
A USPS spokesperson could not be reached at deadline.
The employee, Leroy Richmond, said the Postal Service’s action is in keeping with a pattern of indifference that he and other injured postal workers have encountered since last year, when they were exposed to lethal doses of anthrax spores while working in various USPS facilities.
A November 1 letter from the Postal Service to Richmond, a survivor of inhalation anthrax, said the agency is barred by law from compensating him beyond the workmen’s compensation payments that he has been drawing since October 2001.
The decision allows Richmond, who had sought $100 million in damages from the Postal Service, to proceed with a legal action that he said will attempt to unravel a series of government decisions that left postal workers exposed to anthrax.
Two Brentwood workers died after handling letters packed with anthrax spores bound for Capitol Hill, and dozens more postal employees have filed complaints alleging physical or psychological damages from the attacks. The Brentwood facility is located near Washington, DC.
Separately, the USPS said Monday it was buying nearly 1.6 million potassium iodide pills to distribute to workers who want to have the tablets if a radiological emergency occurs.
Potassium iodide is reportedly the only medication for internal radiation exposure. It has just one use, to prevent thyroid cancer by blocking the thyroid from taking up radioactive iodine.
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