FedEx settles race discrimination case
for nearly $55 million

By Julia Cheever, Bay City News Service

April 12, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A federal judge is scheduled to hold a hearing in San Francisco Friday on whether to grant preliminary approval of a nearly $55 million settlement of a race discrimination lawsuit against FedEx Express.

The proposed settlement was filed with U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Monday by lawyers for FedEx workers.

Under the pact, about 20,000 black and Hispanic workers in FedEx's western U.S. region will receive $38.5 million and their lawyers will receive $15 million for fees and costs. Another $1.35 million in interest can be used for future administrative costs.

FedEx Express is the world's largest package delivery company and is a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, Tenn.

The company does not admit to discrimination in the settlement and FedEx Chief Executive Officer David Bronczek said yesterday that the firm agreed to the resolution to avoid further legal costs.

Bronczek said, "Let me be clear - FedEx does not discriminate and did not discriminate in this case - period."

The chief executive said, "We voluntarily entered into this consent decree to avoid the likely greater expense of continued proceedings in an unpredictable and often irrational litigation environment."

The lawsuit was filed in 2003 and alleged that the company discriminated against black and Hispanic workers and lower-level black managers in pay and promotions.

The workers covered by the settlement include people who have worked as freight handlers, checker-sorters, swing drivers, ramp drivers, customer service agents and dispatchers in California, Washington, Utah and Hawaii since 1999.

FedEx also agreed to stop using a test known as the Basic Skills Test for certain jobs, make changes in its promotion procedures and enhance its diversity training.

If Illston grants preliminary approval, the next step will be to send out notices to class members and seek their consent to the settlement.

In a separate development yesterday, a federal jury in San Francisco awarded $3 million to a Stockton woman in a lawsuit against FedEx for sexual harassment and retaliation.

Charlotte Boswell, a former dispatcher at a FedEx facility in Oakland, claimed that her supervisor, Norman Stiles, sexually harassed her and changed her work hours to a weekend shift in retaliation when she rejected his sexual advances. She said the change in shift forced her to resign because she could not arrange child care for those hours.

The jury award included $300,000 for lost pay, $250,000 for emotional suffering and $2.45 million in punitive damages against FedEx.

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