Agents treated disabled veteran like drug smuggler?

Did agents go too far by setting up sham fishing trip, posing as rehab therapist to catch accused fraudster?
The Oregonian/OregonLive
By Bryan Denson
January 10, 2015

A federal judge in Portland chided government agents Friday for running a series of elaborate ruses to catch a U.S. mail carrier they accuse of fraudulently obtaining workers' compensation benefits.

Agents went so far as to set up a phony business to lure their target – 41-year-old Brian W. Hendricks – into a 7 ½ -hour deep-sea fishing expedition. They also duped him into an interview with an undercover agent posing as a vocational rehabilitation specialist.

Throughout the investigation, agents of the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General secretly videotaped Hendricks, a former Marine sergeant who served in the Middle East. Much of that surveillance came from a camera mounted on a utility pole outside his Vancouver home.

Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones, hearing arguments over the constitutionality of the government's evidence gathering, said the amount of electronic eavesdropping devoted to Hendricks was more befitting a large-scale drug ring than a suspected workers' compensation fraud.

Hendricks' lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender C. Renee Manes, contends in a court filing that the government greatly exaggerated her client's activity during the deep-sea excursion.

"The reality is that Mr. Hendricks' participation in the fishing trip was far from 'able bodied,'" Manes wrote. In fact, she noted, a deckhand interviewed by the defense team confirmed that Hendricks spent most of the excursion in the cabin complaining of back pains and spasms so severe he threw up. Hendricks caught one fish.

Jones pointed out in court that the fish, a cod weighing no more than 5 pounds, scarcely offered the fight of a large salmon.
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After 14 years, soldier wins law suit over lost job

Soldier fired from post office wins fight over pay
He gets his due, wants others to do so, too
News Press.com
Written by
Marisa Kendall
Jan. 25, 2014

A Cape Coral man last month won a victory 14 years in the making, when a federal board ruled he was wrongly fired in 2000 after taking time off for military service.

The U.S. Postal Service must rehire Sgt. Maj. Richard Erickson, 50, and pay him 14 years of back pay, interest and benefits, according to a Dec. 31 ruling by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. The board ruled firing Erickson was a violation of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act. Erickson could be entitled to $2 million, including legal fees and compensation for missed promotions.

Now Erickson wants to encourage soldiers in similar situations to fight for their rights.
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National Guardsman wrongly fired for serving wins against Post Office

Postal Service ordered to reinstate GI, potentially pay millions in back pay, fees
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: January 3, 2014

WASHINGTON — A federal board has again ordered the U.S. Postal Service to reinstate a National Guardsman wrongly fired from his job as a postal worker because he took military leave, telling the agency to pay him what could add up to millions in back pay, benefits and legal fees.

On Monday, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which rules on disputed federal personnel actions, reiterated that the decision in 2000 to fire Sgt. Maj. Richard Erickson, now 50, violated federal laws designed to protect troops’ civilian jobs.

The board made a similar ruling in 2012 and ordered the Postal Service to immediately reinstate Erickson, a decorated long-time Special Forces member, even if it planned to appeal. But the Postal Service appealed the ruling without reinstating Erickson.

On Monday, the board also declared that a Postal Service argument that Erickson was not entitled to back pay and benefits because he did not meet a deadline to request reemployment was invalid because he had already been wrongly fired.
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Post Office delivers help for Marines Toys for Tots

Postal Toys for Tots plan puts Brevard Marines at ease
Postal carriers will help Toys for Tots in collecting for countywide drive
Nov 27, 2012
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY

MELBOURNE — A new partnership involving the U.S. Postal Service will help more children than ever. At least, that’s the hope of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program, which for the first time in Brevard County will involve mail carriers picking up toys from postal customers this Saturday.

The partnership was officially announced to letter carriers Monday morning. And already a least one stepped up with four toys she bought.

“It’s for a great cause,” said Melinda Smith. “I wanted to be able to do it. I love doing it.”

Smith, who works out of the main post office in Melbourne, said the partnership will allow a lot more children from needy families to get a toy at Christmas.
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