Shirley MAHONEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE; Postmaster General; Oakland Postmaster, Defendants-Appellees

Shirley Mahoney appeals pro se the district court’s dismissal of her complaint alleging that the United States Postal Service (“USPS” or “Postal Service”) discriminated against her on the basis of race, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16 (1982), and handicap, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 794 (1982 & Supp. IV 1986). The district court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the matter because Mahoney failed to give notice to the appropriate defendant within the statutory limitations period. Although Mahoney’s appeal is complicated by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loeffler v. Frank, 486 U.S. 549 , 108 S.Ct. 1965 , 100 L.Ed.2d 549 (1988), we conclude that dismissal for want of jurisdiction was proper and therefore affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In October 1972, Mahoney, then a USPS employee, injured her back while attempting to lift a heavy object. Mahoney received worker’s compensation benefits from the time of the accident until January 1980, when it was determined that she no longer possessed any residual disability. After her benefits were terminated, Maho-ney sought reemployment with the USPS. For the next three years, she repeatedly applied to the Postal Service in an…