Do citizens have any say when they are not the first to open their packages. While it is against the law to open another person's mail, the criminals here are rodents: biting their way through packages at the Cooper Station Post Office. NY 1 reports that some customers are finding their packages chewed, the contents nibbled, and extra "presents" left inside, with their perishables.
The people are furious and demand that the Post Office cleans up their act. Do people have any legal rights when it comes to their packages?
Well, in response to the situation, a United States Postal Service (USPS) spokeswoman said that the post offices are inspected by a pest control service on a "regular basis." She also said that they will have an "immediate return visit by the pest control company" in lieu of the recent complaints.
If some of the customers, whose contents were ruined due to defecation (mouse poo), were to contact a New York personal injury attorney, they might be able to create a case against the Post Office.
The Post Office might be at fault if they knew that the time frame between pest control visits was too long to prevent such a large infestation. This could be proven by the reports of the pest control company or by the complaints of the office workers and customers.
If the Post Office knew about the problem and took their time in dealing with it, they might be charged with negligence because they could have done something to fix the problem, but they chose not to.
Also, the pest control company might be convicted of negligence if those regularly scheduled check-ups were not as thoroug as the Post Office had been promised. If the pest people knew about the infestation but failed to eradicate, or "e-rat-icate" the pests, they might be at fault for not performing what they were being paid to do.
Based on the evidence, there might be a couple of personal injury cases. The people would most likely be reembursed the price of the object that was destroyed. If they ate the food and became sick, they could receive more in restitution.
If you have ever been in a similar situation and your packages were in less-than-perfect shape, you can contact a New York personal injury attorney. A lawyer might help you make the guilty party pay, and sniff out any rats... besides the obvious ones.
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