$61 Million Award Becomes $12.4 Million
The presiding judge in the California discrimination case that resulted in a $61 million dollar jury award for two FedEx Ground Lebanese-American drivers reduced the amount to $12.4 million.
In a shocking quote, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Dombrink said, "The harassment was mostly just offensive name calling." The jury heard of a FedEx manager calling law abiding Americans "terrorists" and worse because of their ethnicity yet the judge saw fit to minimize the harassment and lessen the punishment.
Hopefully FedEx and that manager will learn the proper lesson in all this. And not the wrong lesson - like what one lawyer in the case is quoted as saying, "We look forward to having (the award) reduced even farther by the Court of Appeal."
-- September 14
Fred Smith Pay and FedEx Corporate Governance Criticized
With less than two weeks to go before the FedEx Corporation annual shareholders' meeting in Memphis, professional proxy advisory firms are beginning to issue their reports on corporate governance and performance at FedEx. First out of the gate, Proxy Governance has recommended that shareholders withhold votes on all members of the FedEx Corporation's Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee is charged with reviewing and approving the pay packages for top executives including Fred Smith. Proxy Governance recommends withholding votes for board nominees James Barksdale, August Busch IV, Philip Greer, Charles Manatt and Paul Walsh.
Proxy Governance calculates that Fred Smith's compensation was "150 higher than the median executive pay from 20 companies with similar market capitalization." The research group further estimated that Fred Smit'ss average compensation package over the past three years was $17 million per year.
Proxy Governance and other firms of its kind advise shareholders on whether a company meets standards on corporate governance. These firms generally look at a company's overall performance, its stock performance, the independence of the board of directors from management and oversight of management behavior and compensation by the board of directors. Since FedEx Corporation does not allow for 'no' votes in its corporate governance, a 'withhold' recommendation is essentially a vote of no confidence in this group of nominees for the FedEx Board of Directors.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters are sponsors of a shareholder proposal to be voted on at the shareholders' meeting on Sept. 25. The IBT proposes to change FedEx's governance to provide that nominees must achieve a majority of votes to be elected as board members. FedEx Corporation present by-laws allow for a nominee to be elected with a plurality of votes cast.
-- September 12
Another Discrimination Suit, Another Jury Award to a FedEx Employee
The latest lawsuit alleging discrimination at FedEx - this time by a FedEx Express shuttle driver in San Francisco - resulted in a jury decision of $500,000 in compensation for the worker.
FedEx claims its "Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure" is one of the best among all companies. Then why do these FedEx workers need to go to the state or to the feds or to the courts to get claims of discrimination resolved? This jury found not only the charges of discrimination were valid, the jury members also found that the company made this man's working life miserable to retaliate against his going outside the "GFTP" process.
FedEx can't avoid the conclusion that something is seriously wrong. Either their managers are of questionable character. Or "GFTP" itself is neither guaranteed or fair.
-- September 07
New Resource: MA Dept. of Workforce Development: Williams Decision
The Massachusetts Dept. of Workforce Development recently issued an appeal decision finding FedEx Home Delivery driver Bobby Williams to be an employee. We've posted the decision on the Resource page for this case . Bobby is one of the drivers involved in the Teamsters organizing campaign at the Northboro terminal. Good to see him collecting what is rightfully his under Massachusetts law.
The Massachusetts law is clear. The Massachusetts law is direct, using only a three point test to determine employment status. And the Massachusetts law is well known to practitioners in that state. It is only a matter of time before the Massachusetts law punches a huge hole in the legal underpinnings of the FedEx Ground misclassification scheme.
-- September 05
Are "contractors" Paying FedEx Parking Tickets?
FedEx Express drivers are most likely part of any deal the company has with New York City or other municipal governments to cover parking or other non-moving violations. But what about FedEx Ground, Home Delivery and Freight "contractors"? Are these drivers paying the fines? As pointed out in the expert witness testimony in the Estrada case (which can be read here in an PDF document), company manuals push that responsibility onto the drivers. Seems like just another issue that would be resolved once all drivers become employes.
-- September 01
