The USPS NRP settlement is a federal disability-discrimination class action before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission covering an estimated 30,000-plus current and former postal workers whose accommodations were stripped under the National Reassessment Program between 2006 and 2011. The deadline to file individual claims passed on April 12, 2018. If you filed on time, your claim is alive but on hold: as of February 2026, individual hearings are paused while the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations rules on a procedural appeal. Awards, when they come, are calculated one claimant at a time and combine uncapped back pay with compensatory damages of up to $300,000.
What the Case Is About
From May 5, 2006 through July 1, 2011, the Postal Service ran the National Reassessment Program to review employees on limited duty or in rehabilitation positions because of on-the-job injuries. The EEOC found the program violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires federal agencies to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Providing Accommodations In practice, the NRP pulled accommodations out from under injured workers and exposed their confidential medical information to supervisors who had no business seeing it.
Because the EEOC found class-wide liability, the burden has shifted. The USPS must now prove by clear and convincing evidence that any individual class member is not entitled to relief, rather than each worker proving discrimination from scratch.2eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1614 – Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity
Who Is a Class Member
You qualify if you were a USPS employee on limited duty or in a rehabilitation assignment because of a work-related injury and your position was reviewed under the NRP between May 5, 2006, and July 1, 2011. You do not need to have been fired, demoted, or formally disciplined. If USPS evaluated your status under the program, you are in the class.
The strongest evidence of membership is the “NRP Activity File” the Postal Service compiled for every reviewed employee, containing medical records, meeting notes, and documentation of any assignment changes. A PS Form 50 showing limited-duty or permanent rehabilitation status during the relevant period also supports a claim.
The Filing Deadline Has Passed
Individual class members had 30 days from receiving the agency’s notification of the final order to submit a written claim, signed under penalty of perjury.2eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1614 – Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity For this case, the deadline was April 12, 2018. If you did not file by that date, you are almost certainly locked out of individual relief. The EEOC does not typically extend class action claim deadlines once they pass, and there is no indication the NRP case is accepting new claims.
How Individual Awards Are Calculated
This case does not divide a fixed settlement fund equally. Each claimant’s award is set individually based on documented harm, in two categories that follow very different rules.
Back Pay
Back pay covers wages and benefits lost because of the NRP: removal from a position, reduced hours, or lost overtime you would otherwise have worked. There is no dollar cap. Awards also accrue interest at the federal back-pay rate, which is set quarterly by the IRS and sits at 7% for the first quarter of 2026.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Interest Rates Used for Computation of Back Pay
Back pay is reduced by any interim earnings you received during the period you were out of your USPS position, and the EEOC expects claimants to have made a reasonable effort to find substantially equivalent work. If USPS shows you did not look for work at all, your back pay can be reduced. Income from a side job you could have held while still working at USPS, sometimes called moonlight employment, is not deducted.4U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chapter 11 Remedies
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages cover non-financial harm: emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and similar suffering. These damages are capped by statute. Because USPS has well over 500 employees, the maximum compensatory award for any single claimant is $300,000. Punitive damages are not available against the federal government at all.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination in Employment
Most compensatory awards come in well below the ceiling. Documentation drives the number. Medical records showing treatment for depression or anxiety tied to the NRP carry significantly more weight than a written statement alone.
How the Award Gets Decided
After receiving your claim, USPS has 90 days to issue its own determination of what you deserve.2eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1614 – Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity If the offer is acceptable, the matter can close quickly. If you disagree, or if the agency contests the claim, the case goes to an EEOC Administrative Judge for a mini-trial where both sides present evidence.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hearings
Attorney Fees
Many claimants signed contingency agreements with private counsel. The standard retainer in this case gives attorneys 30% of the gross recovery. Claimants proceeding through their union or on their own do not face that deduction but also lack dedicated legal representation at hearing.
Taxes on Your Award
Back pay and compensatory damages are taxed differently, and the difference is large enough that you should know it before you spend anything.
Back Pay Is Taxed as Wages
The IRS treats back pay as ordinary wages in the year you receive it, not the year you should have earned it. It is subject to federal income tax withholding, Social Security, and Medicare, just like a paycheck. As supplemental wages, back pay is typically withheld at a flat 22% for federal income tax; if your total supplemental wages for the year exceed $1 million, the rate on the excess is 37%.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
Social Security tax applies at 6.2% on earnings up to $184,500 in 2026.8Social Security Administration. What Is the Current Maximum Amount of Taxable Earnings Medicare tax applies at 1.45% with no wage limit, and an additional 0.9% Medicare tax kicks in on wages above $200,000.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide A multi-year back pay award landing in one tax year can push you into a much higher bracket than you would have hit earning the money gradually. Talk to a tax professional before spending.
Compensatory Damages Are Also Taxable Here
Because this is employment discrimination rather than physical injury, compensatory damages for emotional distress are generally taxable as ordinary income. The IRS excludes damages from gross income only when received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness, and emotional distress from workplace discrimination does not qualify. The one narrow exception: if part of your emotional distress damages reimburses actual medical expenses tied to that distress, and you did not previously deduct those expenses, that portion may be excludable.9Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments Unlike back pay, compensatory damages are not subject to Social Security or Medicare tax.
Effect on Federal Retirement and Workers’ Comp
If you receive FERS disability retirement, a settlement or verdict from this case will not count against your earnings limit. Federal regulations specifically exclude “amounts received in court actions whether by verdict or settlement” from the income used to determine earning capacity for disability annuitants.10eCFR. 5 CFR Part 831, Subpart L – Disability Retirement Your annuity should remain unaffected by a lump-sum NRP award.
If you also receive Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs benefits for the same on-the-job injury underlying your NRP claim, the interaction is more complicated. OWCP benefits and EEOC remedies arise from different legal authorities, and whether one offsets the other depends on your specific situation. Confirm with your OWCP claims examiner how the two interact before you spend the money.
Appealing an Unfavorable Decision
If the agency denies your claim or awards less than you believe you deserve, you can appeal to the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations within 30 days of receiving the final decision. Miss that window and OFO will dismiss the appeal as untimely, with very few exceptions.11eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1614, Subpart D – Appeals and Civil Actions After exhausting the EEOC process, a civil action in federal district court remains possible, with strict timelines that vary by exit point. That step requires an attorney.
Where Things Stand in 2026
As of February 2026, individual relief is effectively paused. In 2025, the EEOC Administrative Judges issued a General Pre-Hearing Order laying out how individual hearings would proceed. USPS challenged that order, and briefing at the Office of Federal Operations was fully submitted by late June 2025. OFO decisions in this case have historically taken 18 months or longer, and past decisions have taken as long as three years. No individual hearings can move forward until OFO rules.
This case has run for nearly two decades. Class counsel has said publicly that they cannot advance individual claims without the OFO decision and will update claimants when it arrives. If you filed on time, there is nothing to do now but wait. Payout dates cannot be estimated until OFO acts and the hearing process resumes.