Young, In re, 713
| Decision Date | 27 February 1989 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 713,713 |
| Parties | 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2908 In re Vera YOUNG, Petitioner. Vera YOUNG, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, Defendant. ocket 88-3061. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Walter M. Meginniss, Jr. (Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, New York City, of counsel), for petitioner.
Bernard W. Bell, Asst. U.S. Atty. (Rudolph W. Giuliani, U.S. Atty. S.D. of New York, Edward T. Ferguson, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City, of counsel), for defendant, U.S. Postal Service.
Before OAKES, Chief Judge, and FEINBERG and PRATT, Circuit Judges.
Vera Young petitions this court for a writ of mandamus directing the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Carter, J.) to grant her a jury trial in her wrongful discharge action against the United States Postal Service. Her petition presents an important question of first impression before this court. Petitioner claims that the clause in the Postal Reorganization Act that allows the postal service to "sue and be sued", 39 U.S.C. Sec. 401(1), is not only a broad waiver of sovereign immunity but also subjects the postal service to trial by jury. We disagree and, for substantially the reasons stated in Judge Carter's comprehensive opinion, 698 F.Supp. 1139 (S.D.N.Y.1988), we deny the petition for a writ of mandamus.
Petitioner relies on the Supreme Court's recent decision in Loeffler v. Frank, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1965, 100 L.Ed.2d 549 (1988). There the Court noted that by "launching 'the Postal Service into the commercial world,' and including a sue-and-be-sued clause in its charter," congress had waived sovereign immunity for the postal service. 108 S.Ct. at 1970. The Court's narrow holding was that this waiver subjects the postal service to prejudgment interest in a Title VII action.
Petitioner now argues that the waiver of sovereign immunity granted by the "sue and be sued" clause encompasses all normal incidents of suit, including the right to a jury trial. While "sue and be sued" clauses in federal statutes are indeed broad waivers of immunity and have subjected the federal government and its agencies to many types of liability and process, including prejudgment interest, liability for costs, and garnishment and attachment proceedings, see Loeffler v. Frank; Reconstruction Finance Corp. v. J.G. Menihan Corp., 312 U.S. 81, 61 S.Ct. 485, 85 L.Ed. 595 (1941); and Federal Housing Admin. v. Burr, 309 U.S. 242, 60 S.Ct. 488, 84 L.Ed. 724 (1940), the waiver of sovereign immunity does not, by itself, grant a right to trial by jury in an action against the federal government.
The constitutional basis for a jury...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Nyman v. F.D.I.C.
...federal government itself is not subject to trial by jury unless it specifically consents.") (internal citation omitted); In re Young, 869 F.2d 158, 159 (2nd Cir.1989) (holding that since the Postal Reorganization Act did not contain express language "affirmatively and unambiguously" granti......
-
Doe v. American Nat. Red Cross
...her request for a jury in her wrongful discharge suit against the postal service for reinstatement and back pay. In re Young, 869 F.2d 158 (2d Cir. 1989) (per curiam). The district court had held that a jury trial was not available in suits against the postal service in the absence of a sho......
-
Harrell v. U.S. Postal Service, 03-4204.
...to the judicial process does not "change the fact that the party being sued is still the federal government." In re Young, 869 F.2d 158, 159 (2d Cir.1989) (per curiam). Indeed, Congress has provided that the Postal Service "is part of the executive branch of government, that its employees a......
-
Larry Mays v. Tenn. Valley Auth.
...of immunity does not, by itself, grant a right to trial by jury in an action against the federal government.’ Young v. United States Postal Serv., 869 F.2d 158, 159 (2nd Cir.1989) (citations omitted). The Supreme Court has held that the right to a jury trial against an agency of the United ......