P.S. Docket No. AO 14-61


October 27, 2014

In the Matter of the Administrative Offset Petition
WILLIAM H. FLEMING v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,

P.S. Docket No. AO 14-61

APPEARANCE FOR PETITIONER:
William H. Fleming

APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT: 
Joel L. Barnes 
Labor Relations Manager

INITIAL DECISION

Respondent, United States Postal Service, seeks to collect a debt of $1,957.45 from Petitioner, William Fleming, based on his alleged negative annual leave balance when he retired. The Postal Service has not met its burden to establish the validity and amount of the debt. Accordingly, the Petition is granted. The Postal Service may not collect the debt by administrative offset.

FINDINGS OF FACT

  1. Mr. Fleming was employed by the Postal Service at all times relevant to this dispute until he separated from the Postal Service on August 31, 2012 (Fleming Exhs. at 884).1
  2. By invoice dated September 26, 2012, the Postal Service sought to collect an alleged debt of $1,518 from Mr. Fleming based on a negative annual leave balance of 77.63 hours when Mr. Fleming separated from the Postal Service (Attachment to the Answer).
  3. By invoice dated January 16, 2013, the Postal Service sought to collect an alleged debt of $439.45 from Mr. Fleming based on taxes owed on the unpaid portion of the September 26, 2012 invoice (Attachment to the Answer).
  4. On October 16, 2013, the Postal Service issued a Notice of Intention to Collect a Debt by Administrative Offset to Mr. Fleming stating its intention to collect a debt of $1,957.452(Fleming Exhs. at 885).
  5. The record contains what appears to be part of a letter dated December 3, 2013, from the Accounting Service Center. The letter, which purports to summarize Mr. Fleming’s leave usage for 2012, concludes that his annual leave balance was negative 77.63 hours when he retired. The letter is unsigned and the author is not otherwise identified. The letter is not accompanied by any documents—such as leave or payroll records—supporting its conclusion. (Fleming Exhs. at 884).
  6. The record also includes what appears to be part of a letter dated December 5, 2013 from Accounting Services. That letter, citing the December 3, 2013 letter, denied Mr. Fleming’s request to reconsider the debt without further explanation.3 The letter is not signed and the author is not otherwise identified. (Fleming Exhs. at 888).
  7. Thereafter, Mr. Fleming filed a Petition seeking review of the debt under 39 C.F.R. Part 966. The Postal Service’s Answer addressed only whether Mr. Fleming should be allowed to keep the overpayment represented by the alleged negative leave balance. The Answer did not include, or cite to, any documents supporting the existence or amount of the negative leave balance.
  8. I granted the parties’ request to proceed on the written record without an oral hearing. I then provided the parties with a chance to submit additional documents, sworn statements, and briefs summarizing their positions. I suggested that the sworn statements include “an explanation of the basis and amount of the debt at issue in the Petition.” (Order and Memorandum of Telephone Conference dated June 12, 2014).
  9. Mr. Fleming submitted a sworn statement, additional exhibits, and a closing argument. The Postal Service did not file additional exhibits, a sworn statement, or a brief.

DECISION

To collect a debt for a negative annual leave balance under the Debt Collection Act, the Postal Service bears the initial burden to prove the validity and amount of the debt. Margaret L. Marshall, P.S. Docket No. AO 14-35 (I.D. April 7, 2014). Here, the Postal Service has failed to meet that burden.

The record does not include any contemporaneous records (such as leave or payroll records) or sworn testimony establishing Mr. Fleming’s annual leave balance when he retired. The only documents in the record directly related to Mr. Fleming’s annual leave balance are unsworn, unsigned, unexplained, after-the-fact letters, invoices, and summaries. These types of documents, however, are not sufficient to establish the existence and amount of the debt. Glenn A. Patterson, P.S. Docket No. AO 05-62 (I.D. July 26, 2005), aff’d, (P.S.D. October 6, 2005).

CONCLUSION

The Petition is granted. The Postal Service may not collect the debt by administrative offset.


Alan R. Caramella
Administrative Judge

1 Mr. Fleming submitted several hundred documents with his Petition. These documents do not have exhibit numbers, but are numbered sequentially by page number. These documents are referred to as “Fleming Exhs. at __.”

2  This amount represents the combined total of the two prior invoices.

3 The record does not include Mr. Fleming’s request for reconsideration.