Frustrated by missing mail, one American took the Postal Service to court

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — As a general rule, it’s difficult to sue the U.S. Postal Service for lost, delayed or mishandled mail.

But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a Texas landlord who alleges her mail was deliberately withheld for two years is looking to challenge that, in a proceeding the cash-strapped Postal Service says could prompt a deluge of lawsuits over the very common, if frustrating, phenomenon of missing mail. That concern takes on particular resonance during the holiday season, when the volume of mail — billions of sentimental items from Christmas cards to Black Friday purchases — ramps up.

The case focuses on whether the special postal exemption to the Federal Tort Claims Act applies when postal employees intentionally fail to deliver letters and packages.

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