A former employee of the United States Postal Service has taken legal action, alleging discrimination and retaliation that led to her wrongful termination. Ena Carson filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on February 18, 2026, against David Steiner, the Postmaster General of USPS. The lawsuit claims that Carson was unjustly removed from her position due to her disability and as retaliation for engaging in protected Equal Employment Opportunity activities.
The case centers around Carson’s employment as a Mail Handler at the USPS facility in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. According to the complaint, Carson suffers from a service-connected medical condition that affects major life activities such as concentration and stress regulation. Despite notifying her employer of her condition and providing necessary medical documentation, Carson alleges that USPS management failed to accommodate her needs adequately. She claims that after submitting Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) paperwork approved for May through August 2023, she continued to provide updated medical reports monthly while appealing an Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) denial.
Carson asserts that despite assurances from management regarding the sufficiency of her medical documentation during a January 2024 investigative interview, certain absences were coded as AWOL (Absent Without Leave). This coding led to disciplinary actions beginning with a Letter of Warning in February 2024 and culminating in a Notice of Proposed Removal by July 1, 2024. Carson contends that these actions were not only unjust but also retaliatory following her engagement in EEO activity in December 2023.
The complaint outlines two primary counts: Disability Discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Carson argues that her disability was a motivating factor in USPS’s decision to remove her from employment and accuses the agency of treating medically supported absences as misconduct. Furthermore, she claims that USPS’s stated reasons for removal were pretextual and shifted over time.
In seeking redress from the court, Carson requests several forms of relief including reinstatement or front pay, back pay with interest, compensatory damages for emotional distress and loss of benefits, expungement of removal from personnel records, coverage for costs and attorney’s fees where applicable by law, and a jury trial.
Representing herself pro se in this matter is Ena Carson herself. The case is presided over by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly with Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim assisting on procedural matters under Case ID: 1:26-cv-01845.
Source: 126cv01845_Ena_Carson_v_David_Steiner_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Illinois.pdf