P.S. Docket No. AWG 22-424

FINAL DECISION

The Postal Service, through the Treasury Department, seeks to collect a debt from Alcardio Jackson based on overdrawn annual leave when he separated from the Postal Service. Mr. Jackson raised several defenses, none of which alleviate or offset the debt. The petition is therefore denied.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. Jackson worked for the Postal Service until he was removed from employment effective June 3, 2011 (Exhs. 5–6). As of that date, Mr. Jackson had a negative 74.27-hour annual leave balance (Exh. 7).
2. In February 2012, the Postal Service issued Mr. Jackson a Notice of Debt Determination and an invoice. Those documents described a $1,920.17 debt the Postal Service was seeking to collect based on the negative annual leave balance. (Exh. 1).
3. When Mr. Jackson did not respond to those documents, the Postal Service referred the debt to the Treasury Department for further action. The Treasury Department then issued a Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment Proceedings in October 2021. The Treasury Department sought to garnish the original amount of the debt plus collection fees, bringing the total amount sought to $2,534.62. (Exh. 2). In response, Mr. Jackson asked for a hearing to challenge the debt (Exh. 3). The case was then transferred to the Judicial Officer Department for further proceedings.

DECISION

A retiring or separating employee’s negative annual leave balance equates to a salary overpayment, entitling the Postal Service to recover the monetary value of the paid but unearned annual leave. To recover, the Postal Service must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it made the salary overpayments, the amount of the overpayments, and that the employee was not entitled to them. Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) § 512.72; Amerson v. United States Postal Service, AWG 21-319, 2022 WL 622379 (February 1, 2022); Reneau v. United States Postal Service, AO 15-211, 2016 WL 10572230 (August 2, 2016). Here, the Postal Service has met that burden through documentary evidence. It has proved both the existence and amount of the debt based on Mr. Jackson’s negative annual leave balance as of June 2011.
Mr. Jackson raised several defenses to the debt assessment. First, he explained that he did not understand how the Postal Service’s annual leave program worked (Tr. 11). But Mr. Jackson’s lack of knowledge, even if true, does not excuse or alleviate the debt. Gray v. United States Postal Service, AWG 22-33, 2022 WL 18134845 (December 5, 2022). The Postal Service’s regulations provide that employees are indebted to the Postal Service for the value of overdrawn annual leave. ELM § 512.721. There is no basis to deviate from that stated rule merely because Mr. Jackson did not know about it. Gray, AWG 22-33.
Next, during the hearing, Mr. Jackson said he had other documents to support his position, but he did not have them immediately available. To allow him time to produce those documents, I left the record open for three business days after the hearing. (Tr. at 17–19). Mr. Jackson, however, did not file any additional documents.
Finally, Mr. Jackson alleges that his supervisor demanded that Mr. Jackson use his annual leave when he had to go to state court for personal reasons in 2011 (Tr. at 26–27). Mr. Jackson now alleges that the judge in that proceeding told him that he did not have to use his annual leave to appear in court (Tr. at 28). This argument, however, is not supported by any documentary evidence or postal regulation. This allegation therefore has no merit and does not excuse the debt.

ORDER

The petition is denied. The Postal Service and Treasury Department may collect the debt underlying this petition by administrative wage garnishment.