Judge Grants Class-Action Status for Suit Against FedEx

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday certified a class-action discrimination lawsuit targeting FedEx Corp. amid allegations that the delivery service paid thousands of current and former minority employees less than their white counterparts, skipped them for promotions and gave minorities poor work evaluations.

The case includes an estimated 10,000 current and former hourly workers and about 1,000 low-level management employees in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and parts of Texas.

James Finberg, an attorney representing the class, said FedEx normally promoted from within, yet three times the number of package handlers and loaders were minorities compared with drivers, who earn more. He added that twice as many minorities as whites failed promotional tests.

“FedEx knows that black and Hispanics fail at a much higher rate, but yet has not changed the test,” Finberg said.

Jim McCluskey, a FedEx spokesman, said the Memphis, Tenn.-based delivery company was considering appealing the ruling, which the company called a “procedural decision” that didn’t address the case’s merits. FedEx contended that promotions were based on objective factors.