Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.

USPS, et al. v. Konan, Lebene

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Supreme Court of the United States
USPS, et al. v. Konan, Lebene
Docket number: 24-351
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argued: October 8, 2025
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Usps, et al. v. Konan, Lebene is a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on October 8, 2025, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns the Federal Tort Claims Act. Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "Whether a plaintiff's claim that she and her tenants did not receive mail because Postal Service employees intentionally did not deliver it to a designated address arises out of 'the loss' or 'miscarriage' of letters or postal matter. 28 U.S.C. 2680(b)."[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: United States Postal Service, et al.
    • Respondent: Lebene Konan
      • Legal counsel: Robert J. Clary (Robert Clary, PLLC)

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez

    “ Lebene Konan, a Black property owner, leased two rental residences in Euless, Texas, and retrieved business and tenant mail from a central mailbox daily. In May 2020, United States Postal Service (USPS) employee Jason Rojas changed the lock on the mailbox at one of Konan's properties without her approval, halted mail delivery, and demanded ownership verification. Even after USPS’s Inspector General confirmed Konan’s ownership, Rojas and another USPS employee, Raymond Drake, allegedly continued marking mail addressed to Konan and her tenants as undeliverable. Konan claims this refusal of service extended to her second property and was racially motivated, causing loss of rental income and disruption of essential communications.

    Konan sued USPS, Rojas, Drake, and the United States, raising claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and alleging violations of the equal protection guarantees of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1985. The district court dismissed her FTCA claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the postal-matter exception, and her equal protection claims for failure to state a claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the equal protection claims but reversed on the FTCA claim, holding that sovereign immunity did not bar claims based on intentional acts of mail non-delivery.[3]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • October 8, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument.
    • April 21, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • September 27, 2024: United States Postal Service, et al. appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • March 20, 2024: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas as to Konan’s FTCA claim and remanded it for further proceedings consistent with the Fifth Circuit’s opinion. The Fifth Circuit also affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Konan’s equal protection claims.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ Whether a plaintiff's claim that she and her tenants did not receive mail because Postal Service employees intentionally did not deliver it to a designated address arises out of ""the loss"" or ""miscarriage"" of letters or postal matter. 28 U.S.C. 2680(b).[3] ”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of oral argument:[4]



    Transcript

    Transcript of oral argument:[5]

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[6]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, ""24-351 USPS, ET AL. V. KONAN, LEBENE QP"", April 21, 2025
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, ""No. 24-351," accessed April 29, 2025
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    4. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," argued October 8, 2025
    5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Transcript," argued October 8, 2025
    6. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=USPS,_et_al._v._Konan,_Lebene&oldid=10538673"