| FedEx has been under the a few strains lately. Not | | | | got his third final warning in 2005 and was fired. |
| only have they been pressured from unions and | | | | FedEx says this was the third warning in 12 months. |
| employment lawyers who question their tactics on | | | | Price hired a Houston employment lawyer and took |
| how they separate the private business franchise | | | | FedEx to court again (in Houston) and won by jury's |
| model with the compensation they provide, but also | | | | decision. |
| several discrimination suits that are individual and | | | | Others that Burden FedEx |
| class-action. Currently a major case launched by a | | | | The Price case was not an anomalous occasion; there |
| Houston employment lawyer and their client, | | | | were a string of complaints. In fact FedEx just |
| Derosher Price, has ended with a nearly 3 million dollar | | | | settled on a case that possibly ranked in among the |
| ruling for the plaintiff. | | | | top 10 discrimination cases in the U.S. in regards to |
| According to the testimony, price was passed over a | | | | fees and settlements. FedEx's Express unit was the |
| promotion for his security job in 1999. Back then, | | | | target of a class action lawsuit which included multiple |
| Price attempted to sue FedEx on discrimination | | | | complaints of their human resources department |
| charges but the case was later dismissed and lost | | | | allegedly fostering a hostile environment for people of |
| when he tried to appeal in 2002. Price sued them | | | | color by allowing racial bias go unchecked. |
| over race discrimination and believed that the | | | | Now after the settlement was handed down, they |
| promotion was passed over because his superiors | | | | also were advised to change a part of their hiring and |
| harbored negative racial feelings against him. | | | | screening process. The "Basic Skills" test they provide |
| However, despite the lawsuit, the company started | | | | for every employee as a prerequisite to be |
| reprimanding price for his work performance, | | | | promoted to positions of higher power and |
| according to him in his following court case -- part of | | | | responsibility was found to be ineffective. Yet the |
| his disposition in the next suit. Some of what the | | | | test was showing a skew in numbers -- 86 percent |
| reprimanding was the way he was gathering | | | | of white employees passed while 47 percent black |
| information about his performance asking his fellow | | | | and 62 percent Latino showed passing scores. |
| work peers about their account of his job | | | | FedEx said it would make its performance evaluation |
| performance. He was trying to leverage a rebut in | | | | "less discretionary" in addition to scraping their |
| light of the initial reprimands he received. | | | | screening test. |
| Price, who had worked there at FedEx from 1984, | | | | |