BELGRADE — A former United States Postal Service (USPS) contracted employee is claiming he was terminated after filing a whistleblower complaint against the Belgrade post office.
"I’m out here protesting because I don’t have my money that I earned, that they rightfully owe me, and on top of that, I want the post office to be held accountable," says John Whittaker.
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Whittaker is a Belgrade resident, who after experiencing many issues with the mail service, decided to join the team and see if he could help.
"And I think they sabotaged me. They were willfully and deliberately hiding packages and hiding cages when I was trying to sort them out," Whittaker claims.
John was hired by a USPS contractor—and only worked for six days before filing a whistleblower complaint about the treatment by Belgrade staff.
"There was such discord and the supervision was poor. Many of the employees, postal employees, whenever they were walking by me, would curse, and some of them were damn near in tears," he says.
I reached out to USPS officials to request comment on what John claims to have been a hostile work environment.
They say, "Our Belgrade management team is highly dedicated and knowledgeable. They work tirelessly to ensure the smooth operation of our services despite the challenging circumstances. We take immense pride in the resilience and adaptability of our staff, who have consistently gone above and beyond to meet the needs of our community."
Shortly after filing the whistleblower complaint with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Whittaker was told by his contractor that she would not be moving forward with a full contract of employment.
"This is the evidence that I have and I'm basing it on a timeline that for the six days that I worked, she’s praising me, she’s giving me fist bumps and high fives for the job that I'm doing. And yet after I filed that complaint all of a sudden there’s no hours for me and they ended up bringing in a whole new crew of contractors," he says.
WATCH RELATED: Ongoing USPS delivery issues prompt Belgrade man to call for investigation
I requested additional comment from USPS on any investigation in regard to the complaint and they were unable to provide any.
And since being terminated, Whittaker says he has not heard from his employer and not been paid for the days he worked.
"I still haven't gotten a call from her. She owes me the money. I’m filing an EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] complaint and I'm going to keep protesting on and off every day or other day. I'm not going to let this go," says Whittaker.
MTN will continue to monitor this story and provide any updates.
MTN News has been reporting on recent mail delivery issues in Gallatin County since 2022. Watch the videos below to catch up on our previous coverage:
Belgrade residents say mail delivery is nearly two weeks behind (Nov. 2024)
Belgrade residents say mail isn't being delivered; USPS disagrees (Dec. 2023)
Bozeman Post Office still facing mail delivery issues due to staffing shortage (Sept. 2023)
