ALLEN PARK, Mich. – A close friend of the Allen Park postal worker who died at the facility said he helped pull his friend’s body from the machine, and he also slammed the company’s “toxic” culture.
Nicholas John Acker, 36, of Trenton, was was found dead in a machine at a postal facility in Allen Park. His body was discovered stuck in a machine on Nov. 8, 2025, and had reportedly been there for hours before first responders arrived.
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“We want to know what happened and how long he was there,” his fiancée, Stephanie Jaszcz said. “That’s what we want to know. We want to know how he even ended up there and why doesn’t anybody know where he was at?”
Postal maintenance mechanic Matthew Stiffler was a close friend and coworker of Acker. He’s also the union representative. Stiffler shared his personal thoughts about the working conditions and culture at the facility.
He emphasized that he was speaking on his own behalf, not representing the postal service.
“I just lost it,” Stiffler said. “I actually threw up immediately and finished getting ready and went right to work.”
He described the prevailing attitude at work as “the mail must move at all costs,” adding that new management has made conditions worse by pushing for more work with less staff and ignoring proper safety protocols.
“They don’t want to shut down the machines for anything,” Stiffler said. “It feels like our mail has increased. We’ve lost staffing pretty significantly.”
He said most staffing protocols haven’t been followed or enforced, and he believes Acker’s death “absolutely” could have been prevented.
Stiffler said safety has taken a backseat for some time, noting that machines built in the 1970s are now problematic due to changes in packaging. Locking out machines for safety takes time, which management resists, he said.
Though he refrained from discussing specifics that could affect the investigation, Stiffler said he helped with Acker’s body and is pushing for for a thorough examination of what happened and accountability for those responsible.
“Nick was a good man, and he deserves this to be examined at the highest levels, and for the people that contributed to this to be dealt with and changes to be made,” Stiffler said.
He criticized management’s response, saying the plant manager ordered workers to keep processing mail in another part of the building while the body was still inside.
“People took time off to deal with this, and he’s, like, threatening discipline and saying that we were AWOL,” Stiffler said. “It’s a problem.”
He described the workplace culture as “toxic,” and said coworkers feel unsafe.
“Nobody trusts anybody there anymore,” Stiffler said. “I shouldn’t have to be scared to go to work and make a living for my family.”
Stiffler said he believes the plant has not been shut down, and management has not acknowledged the death or addressed safety concerns.
“I don’t trust the man that’s running our establishment,” Stiffler said. “I don’t trust him at all.”
After informing other employees of their rights, Stiffler said he was kicked out of the plant. He expressed some fear about speaking out publicly, but insisted the state must intervene.
“Nick was a good man,” Stiffler said. “He deserves something good to happen and his death not to be in vain.”
“The United States Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at the Detroit Network Distribution Center (NDC) in Allen Park, MI,” the original statement from USPS said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. The NDC is fully operational at this time.”
“‘The mail’s still moving’? Gross,” Jaszcz said. “‘Sorry about the loss, but the mail’s still moving.’ They couldn’t even say his name or acknowledge that he was an Air Force veteran.
“A man gone. A veteran. A husband. A human being. And all you can think of is mail keeps moving? Inhumane. It’s gross.”
Local 4 reached out to USPS on Monday, requesting a response to Stiffler’s comments. We received the following statement:
“The Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of life suffered recently involving our postal employee. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this time. This incident remains under investigation by OSHA, and the Postal Service is fully cooperating. We do not have any further comment at this time.”
USPS Statement