USPS refusing to reassign carrier who is stalking/harassing me, Postmaster now withholding mail delivery and slandering me (IL)

Location: Southern Illinois

I suspect this carrier bid the route at my place of employment in order to gain access to me. I have known of him for close to 10 years, but we’ve never hung out in person or talked on the phone, only brief conversations through business (in the past he worked for another business we occasionally used for sublet work) and some texting. Sure, we were pretty flirty at the beginning, but that was a long time ago and things changed.

He’s been working as relief for our regular mail carrier for about a year now. At times, he’s accused me of “being mean” to him because all he wants to talk about is sex and I’ve been shooting him down, and then our mail wouldn’t come a day or two he worked. I’ve tried to remain cordial due to the business situation, but he’s sent me pictures of rope saying he wants me to tie him up, sent a pic of a jar of coconut oil saying it was for me to use on him, sent me dark and blurry pics of what I’m pretty sure is his penis, and he’s sent me pics of girls who look similar to me that he’s obviously screenshot from adult websites of whatever sort.

This all came to a head for me in late April: I woke up at 2:30a, sick to my stomach and had to go sit on the pot, so of course I took my phone with me. Literally the second I opened FB, he messaged me. I ignored it. Then he said “or you can just ignore me”. I went off on him: I’d had enough of his immature BS and told him to leave me alone and stop texting me. He messaged me again. I said I’m telling you, don’t message me again. He messaged me again. I blocked him, and then in the morning I made my first complaint with USPS, requesting he be removed from the route. Since then, the situation has taken several disturbing turns.

This is when our mail starts to not be delivered for 5-10 days at a time, so I signed up for Informed Delivery. No resolution was offered and I was forced to visit the post office to retrieve our mail on multiple occasions. Three different supervisors at this post office told me I shouldn’t have to worry about this, that they’d make sure the Postmaster called me, but she never did. These same three supervisors all said they’ve been trying to terminate this carrier’s employment, with one mentioning how hard it is to fire someone from USPS. Then one of those three supervisors sent him to our location with the mail and told him to bring it inside, at which time I called the local PD and had this carrier trespassed from the property, since no one at USPS was taking my concerns serious (that supervisor called afterwards and said “But did he do anything to you today?”). The fourth time I went down there, I was able to speak to the Postmaster briefly, but she refused to address my concerns because I’m only the location manager, not the business owner. So I made an OIG complaint about her refusal to address my concerns and filed a request for assistance with our State Representative’s office.

Last week, the owner of the business I work for just happened to be there when our regular carrier came in, and she proceeded to tell us she had been instructed by the Postmaster to NOT deliver our mail that day but she wanted us to know what’s going on because she didn’t agree with it, and that that was the last day we’d be getting mail delivery. Then she mentioned something about some messages but didn’t elaborate, and said that we’d have to rescind the trespass order or get a PO Box if we want our mail. My boss and I immediately went to the post office to try to speak with the Postmaster, but she refused to come out to speak with us and we had to leave after standing there 30 min. The following day, one of those three supervisors called to tell me that the Postmaster has possession of texts messages between me and the carrier, that they’re “quite explicit” and show ME as the aggressor, and that due to that and the congressional I filed, we would no longer be receiving mail unless we rescinded the trespass order. The owner just happened to be there again, so I put the phone on speaker and introduced my boss, then asked this supervisor to repeat himself, which he did verbatim. I then asked that since the owner was here on the phone, would the Postmaster talk to him, and she agreed. The phone was still on speaker and my boss spoke, so I’m not sure she knew I was in the room. She proceeded to tell him about these explicit text messages that go back to February (my texts do not support this), that I’m the aggressor (we both took it as she was implying I was the one pursuing him), that he and I went to high school together and that we’ve had a prior relationship (neither of which are true). She told him we’d have to lift the trespass order OR get a PO Box if we want our mail. He told her it was the duty of them both to get to the bottom of this and that he’d be in touch. The Postmaster then emailed our congressman’s office telling them about the messages, that we were rescinding the trespass order and that mail delivery would resume, therefore they were closing the complaint.

I refuse to rescind the trespass. I don’t want him to have access to me or the mail for the business I manage, as there are thousands of dollars of checks they are withholding from us. I’m super upset about these alleged texts and want to know what they say, and I’m really upset this Postmaster has been telling so many people about this. In my mind, anything prior to me revoking consent is a moot point, and her gaslighting me this way is super concerning. My boss will install a mailbox outside but that doesn’t fix the problem, as in I’m uncomfortable AF with this guy coming around. This week it seems this carrier has been on this route more than usual and now he’s smirking at me, real smug, like he got the last laugh. I’ve made no less than six complaints with USPS Customer Service and the OIG and have gotten nowhere to date. The person handling my case at the congressman’s office dropped the ball big time, turns out yesterday was to be her last day. I’ll have to reach out to that office next week to see who’s been resigned to USPS. Monday, I spent $150 making copies and sending certified mail to the Postmaster General, the Consumer Advocate, Consumer Affairs, the local District Manager, the Board of Governors, the State Rep’s office, the OIG and the Postal Inspection Service, demanding the carrier be reassigned and regular mail delivery resume, an investigation be opened into the Postmaster’s actions, and that she issue a formal retraction regarding these texts.

I have a right to feel safe at my job and don’t understand why this isn’t being taken seriously. My research shows that per his union contract, he could be reassigned to another route at the Postmaster’s discretion, but she denies this and refuses to offer any other resolution. What on earth can I do??? I cannot go on like this much longer, it’s seriously affecting my ability to do my job in multiple ways and causing me undue stress and anxiety. My boss is currently pretty understanding but I don’t expect that to be afforded indefinitely. Somethings gotta give, it’s been 90 days so far.

TIA