CHRISTOPHER LEON PATTON

And

CHRISTOPHER LEON PATTON, JR.

P.S. Docket No. MD 07-68

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT
CHRISTOPHER LEON PATTON

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT
CHRISTOPHER LEON PATTON, JR.

INITIAL DECISION

           This mail dispute has been docketed pursuant to Postal Operations Manual (POM 9, July 2002) Section 616.21, which requires the Chief Field Counsel to forward certain unresolved mail disputes to the Judicial Officer for resolution. The mail in dispute is that addressed to Newton Lumber Company, at P.O. Box 2181, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2181. The Tuscaloosa Postmaster is currently holding the mail.

           Both parties filed sworn written statements, as required by the Rules of Practice, 39 C.F.R. §965.5, along with other documents, and both filed replies, as permitted by 39 C.F.R. §965.6. The following findings of fact are based on all the material submitted by the parties, included material forwarded by the United States Postal Service Law Department, Tampa, Florida Office.

FINDINGS OF FACT

           1. The disputants are Christopher Leon Patton (CLP), and his son, Christopher Leon Patton, Jr. (CLP, Jr.).

           2. In about 1965, CLP took over the business known as Newton Lumber Company from his father-in-law. In about July 1965, CLP rented P.O. Box 2181 in the name of Newton Lumber Company. (CLP statement; Letter from Marybeth Lee, Customer Service Supervisor, February 5, 2007, attached to Law Department forwarding letter).

           3. CLP continued to operate the business until December 31, 1985. During this time, personal mail for CLP and several other family members, in addition to Newton Lumber Company business mail, was delivered to Box 2181. Effective January 2, 1986, CLP, Jr. became the owner, via a Bill of Sale from CLP, and the business was incorporated in Alabama as Newton Lumber Company, Inc. (CLP statement; CLP, Jr. statement and attached documents).

           4. Neither the Articles of Incorporation, nor the Bill of Sale, mentions P.O. Box 2181, but the Bill of Sale states that the Transferor (CLP) “hereby sells, assigns, transfers, and conveys to Newton Lumber Company, Inc. all his right, title, and interest in and to all tangible and intangible assets listed on the financial statement attached as Attachment ‘A’, including without limitation all the stock in trade, leasehold interests (both as to real and personal property), trade names, and other assets of the certain business known as ‘Newton Lumber Company,’ located at Montgomery Highway, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.”

           5. CLP, Jr. has been operating the business since January 1986 and has been receiving mail addressed to the business at P.O. Box 2181 since that time. Also, personal mail for CLP and other family members continued to be delivered to Box 2181. CLP, Jr. has paid the annual box rental since January 1986. (CLP statement; CLP, Jr. statement).

           6. On January 29, 2007, CLP and another son, Christopher Charles Patton, came to the Tuscaloosa Post Office and asked to have the lock changed on Box 2181. Because the box application form had not been updated since 1990, they were asked to update it.[1] They did so, listing the box holder as Newton Lumber Company, with CLP as applicant. A postal employee then changed the lock on Box 2181 and gave CLP the key. (Letter from Marybeth Lee, Customer Service Supervisor, February 5, 2007, attached to Law Department forwarding letter).

           7. This mail dispute arose on January 31, 2007, when Ms. McDowell and CLP, Jr. learned that the lock on Box 2181 had been changed.

DECISION

           The problem in this case arose because, for more than forty years, personal mail for CLP and others, as well as business mail for Newton Lumber Company, has been received at Box 2181. Apparently, CLP sought to change the lock because he believes some of his personal mail has been diverted. CLP argues that the box has been his since 1965, and that after the sale in 1986, he gave CLP, Jr. permission to continue to have business mail sent there. Further, he argues that the Bill of Sale did not include any rights to Box 2181.

           The issue to be resolved is not to decide who “owns” P.O. Box 2181, but to determine who is entitled to receive mail addressed to Newton Lumber Company. Reed A. Miller, Miller & Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C. and Charles E. Wright, P. S. Docket No. MD 97-475 (I.D. February 4, 1998), finalized, (Order March 4, 1998); Carol B. Wright and Culbreath Whitehead, II, P. S. Docket No. MD 95-138 (I.D. June 26, 1995), finalized, (Order July 18, 1995).

           One of the Postal Service’s governing rules is that if there is disagreement about where mail to an organization, including a corporation, is to be delivered, “it must be delivered according to the order of the organization’s president or equivalent official.”[2] In this case, CLP, Jr., as the owner of Newton Lumber Company, Inc., is the president or equivalent official.

           Another general principle in resolving mail disputes is that mail should be delivered as intended by the senders. Because CLP, Jr. has been the owner and operator of the business for more than twenty years, it is likely that senders addressing mail to the business intend for CLP, Jr. to receive it. Further, despite the fact that personal mail has long been delivered to Box 2181, the box has always been rented in the name of Newton Lumber Company. Therefore, even though the Bill of Sale did not mention mail or the post office box, the language of the Bill of Sale (see Finding #4) conveyed the business name to CLP, Jr. This is enough to conclude that CLP, Jr. is entitled to control delivery of mail addressed to that business name.

           This decision deals only with delivery of the mail. It does not determine ownership of the contents of the mail and does not attempt to resolve any other disputes between the parties. If CLP, Jr. receives mail that is intended for CLP, it is his responsibility to forward that mail. If either party obtains a court order directing delivery of the mail, postal regulations provide that the mail will be delivered according to such an order. POM §616.3.

           The Judicial Officer should issue an Order to the Tuscaloosa Postmaster that the mail addressed to Newton Lumber Company, or Newton Lumber Company, Inc., at P.O. Box 2181, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-2181 should be delivered as directed by Christopher Leon Patton, Jr.

Bruce R. Houston
Chief Administrative Law Judge

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[1] The box application had last been updated on June 22, 1990, by Linda McDowell, Secretary, for Newton Lumber Company.

[2] POM Section 614.1. Similar language appears at Domestic Mail Manual (DMM300), January 6, 2005, Section 508.1.5.1.