USPS contractor in Colorado claims he lost job after raising security concerns at Golden Post Office

Weeks after a CBS Colorado investigation raised questions about required security clearances not being met by contract carriers, a newly uncovered audit shows many of the same concerns had already been flagged to the U.S. Postal Service months earlier, yet the issues appeared to persist.

The contractor who originally brought those concerns forward now says he is paying the price.

Austin Wolf said mail carriers were working without required background checks and that workers may have been sharing security badges. For two years, he said he repeatedly tried to get the Postal Service to address what he was seeing inside the Golden Post Office, including reporting his concerns to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

"I had reported this for over two years. They didn't correct it, and I did what I felt like I had to do, which was get some outside help," he said.

Wolf eventually contacted CBS Colorado. After the story aired, he said contractors without proper clearances were removed or reassigned. But he says reporting those concerns came at a personal cost. According to Wolf, the postmaster warned him he was in trouble after the issue became public. Two days later, he received notice that his contract was ending.

"I was given two primary reasons. One was for speaking to the media without authorization... and for taking photos inside the building. They said I was going to post them to social media, which I did not and would not."

Wolf said the response left him frustrated.

"This shows me they care more about what they saw on TV than what's going on in the building," Wolf said.

Wolf believes he was pushed out for exposing problems he says USPS had already been warned about.

"It really changed contracting in our area, and I think the post office benefited from that and I think they surely turned a blind eye to it," he said.

In fact, USPS was made aware of security concerns months earlier through an Office of Inspector General audit evaluating Contract Delivery Services, or CDS.

The August report identified "challenges with management and execution of CDS impacting mail security, carrier safety and operational efficiency." Auditors found significant gaps in the security screening and badging process, concluding that 65% of CDS carriers surveyed were working without a valid badge. In one case, an administrator stated exceptions had been granted, allowing several CDS mail carriers to work without approved clearances because they had not been in the United States long enough to pass required security screening. Among the sites visited during the audit was the Golden Sorting and Delivery Center, where Wolf worked.

"We have a really great postal system; it's the envy of the world, but if we are not going to follow the rules, we have a really big problem," Wolf said.

Asked how the termination had affected him, Wolf said he misses work he loved.

"I'm sad," he said, "I get to deliver joy and bring mail to people; sometimes it's a bill, but a lot of the time packages are great, so I love it."

Even though that opportunity is now gone, Wolf said he does not regret speaking out.

"I would change what I did; I would have done it sooner," he said.

As part of the audit, the Office of Inspector General recommended implementing monitoring tools to strengthen oversight of administrative officials and enforce compliance with policies. Postal Service management agreed with that recommendation and has until July of 2027 to implement the changes.

Regarding Wolf's termination, a USPS spokesperson said in part that Wolf "is not a Postal Service employee, and employment decisions are made by his employer."