In the latter months of 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Respondent, the United States Postal Service (USPS), faced a growing problem at its Lehigh Valley Processing and Distribution Center Facility (the Lehigh Plant or Plant). Due to a combination of several factors, including the increase in absentee voting for the 2020 election, the increase in online shopping due to the pandemic, and the coming holiday season, the volume of mail and parcels coming into the Lehigh Plant for processing and distribution was growing substantially. (Tr. 311-12, 331, 493, 568, 583-85, 597, 605-06, 648-49, 696-698, 768-69). Meanwhile, the Plant was facing major staffing shortages resulting from high rates of employee absences, the Plant’s apparent inability to find and onboard new employees, and a generous leave policy that had been instituted for Covid. (Tr. 597-98, 600-02, 606, 611, 645, 699-700, 730-31, 735, 840-41, 871-72; RX-54). By late November of 2020, the coalescence of these circumstances resulted in the Plant’s increasing inability to process and distribute the volume of incoming mail.