FedEx sued for big bucks

A former FedEx truck driver has been awarded a multi-million-dollar verdict by a jury. The lawsuit was brought after the driver was allegedly sidelined for a knee injury.

Having driven for FedEx for over two years, David Goldstine knew the company policy: don’t move a trailer from the dock without closing the door. But on that day in April 2017, Goldstein wasn’t able to close the door. According to documents filed as part of the lawsuit, the door had been damaged, preventing it from being closed.

“It was dark and raining at the time, so [Goldstine] did not attempt to close the trailer door because he determined that it would be unsafe for him to do so,” the complaint says according to FreightWaves.

But Goldstine didn’t just shrug and drive off. He contacted a supervisor. That supervisor came and couldn’t close the door either. A second supervisor who was called in allegedly said that “it was not his job to close the broken door.”

When a third supervisor, Randy Mott, confronted Goldstine the next day wanting to know why the trailer hadn’t been moved, Goldstine told him the story. During the retelling, he told Mott that he had a knee injury which made him feel that attempting to force a broken door closed would be unsafe.

According to the suit filed against FedEx, Mott responded that Goldstein would “need to find another job.” Goldstein was then pulled from driving duties. And despite getting a fresh physical which deemed him fit to return to duty, Goldstein never drove for FedEx again.

Instead, Goldstein brought a lawsuit against FedEx for violating his rights protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

FedEx claims that Goldstein “refused to return to work after he was medically cleared.”

A jury sided with Goldstein, awarding him $6.85 million in past and future economic losses, emotional damages, and punitive damages.

A statement from FedEx Freight states that they are considering an appeal.



Source: freightwaves, bloomberg

By Samuel Barradas.

 

Outside comment of the day:

"Sounds like “not my job “ supervisor is not a team member. He’s probably the one sitting in the office picking his nose and looking at porn on his phone."