USPS City Mail Carrier Marshun Brooks(Credit: WBTV/ClaireKopsky)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A Charlotte mail carrier was suspended without pay in November after she called 911 because she was having a medical emergency while out delivering mail on her uptown route.
Marshun Brooks called WBTV for help after being put out of work.
Brooks said she called 911 as she experienced chest pains and shortness of breath on the afternoon of Nov. 20.
Before calling 911, Brooks said, she sent a message to her managers through a USPS messaging device. Brooks said her message included her location and what was happening.
“The supervisor was sitting at the desk and I was like, ‘Did you not all see…my text message I sent through the scanner? Because I just got released from the hospital,’” Brooks said. “She went to her work computer and her eyes just start bulging like ‘Oh my god.’ And she asked me where’s the postal vehicle? And I was like, ‘It’s in the same location that I sent in a text message.’ I said, you know, ‘This is ridiculous. I had a medical emergency and you all didn’t do anything about it.’”
A few days later, Brooks’ doctor cleared her to return to work so she went back into the office with her medical documentation in hand.
She clocked in and a supervisor came up to her saying she was being suspended without pay for abandoning her route.
She left the mail station that day on leave and without pay.
“It’s totally just unfair, inhumane, no type of empathy, none whatsoever,” Brooks said.
WBTV reached out to USPS and a spokesman said, “Safety is a top priority for the Postal Service.”
When asked about the policy for mail carriers during a medical emergency, USPS responded, “A carrier who is having a medical emergency while delivering mail is trained to seek medical attention immediately, which can be done by going to a nearby emergency room or calling 911.”
Brooks said that is what she did.
“They don’t want to take no accountability,” Brooks said. “And I’m being penalized for it.”
Brooks received a letter from USPS hours before this story was set to run, dated Dec. 19, clearing her to return to work.