"ULUTH, Minn. — A Minnesota woman is suing the federal government after a letter she mailed to her son in Iraq was returned with the word "deceased" stamped on the envelope, even though the soldier is alive.

Joan Najbar filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, claiming emotional distress and negligence.

Najbar sent her son the letter in September 2006. It was returned several weeks later with the red stamp mark.

Najbar contacted the Red Cross and learned her son had not been killed.

The government's response to her lawsuit has not yet been filed, but the U.S. Postal Service found no evidence of negligence after Najbar filed a claim in 2008.

Her attorney says he is investigating whether Najbar's anti-war protest on the steps of a Duluth post office days before the letter was returned had anything to do with the stamp."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/01/soldiers-mom-sues-over-le_n_375340.html

 I was Reading alot of comments from people on news websites and most believe this lady does not have a case and need's to grow up. I don't know if i agree 100% that she doesnt have a case. What do you guys think?

I think she needs to grow up. Mistakes happen. Maybe she had sloppy handwriting and the post office got the wrong guy. I'm sure they didn't take names of all the protesters and find their mail, as it would be easier to do other things. The few hours of stress she suffered didn't have any long term affects on her life, so she doesn't deserve any compensation.

I would be mad too. To learn your son is dead like that, when he really isn't. I would freak out. But mistakes do sometimes happen and she shouldn't be suing people over this.....

I'm gonna sue VGChartz for having this ad on the site:

The girl is showering in money, she moves around and shows... NOTHING!!! I'm emotional distressed... also there is a negligence in the part of VGChartz for not providing me enough boobies.. I'm so sueing...

I think that thinking your son is dead is a little bit more then just stress. It can completely destroy a person. I am not sure how long she needed to wait to figure out her son was okay but is could have cause severe emotion problems until she did figure it out. If she found out right after she received the letter then i think she does need to grow up. But if it took days then i think she does have something. 

an apology for the mistake. She doesn't deserve any money. If he really died in the Army she would get a notice (or his wife would and she could ask her). Either way she is just looking to turn a quick dime. If I could sue people for getting me upset by making a mistake I'd be rich.

I kinda agree with nordlead. Mistakes happen. Yeah it could hav be traumatizing but when you have a son in the military, his death is a possible outcome. But she would have recieved an official letter from the US government stating that he was KIA, before the letter she sent was ever returned to her. It was a mistake that had bad consequences, but everything in the end turned out alright, and she shouldnt recieve a dime of compensation for something that was probably nothing more than a clerical error.

Well, if she didn't know for a few weeks I can understand the emotional damage she could have suffered, then I think it would be OK for her to sue. Not knowing if your kid is alive/ dead is terrible, a couple days shouldn't matter though.

Long live Irving Washington (Washington Irving)!

Anyone who has read Catch-22 knows what I'm talking about.