FedEx in the hot seat after firing driver

On Behalf of | Jun 5, 2014 | Wrongful Termination

Most people in Brentwood are familiar with Federal Express Corporation, or at least what it is commonly known as, FedEx. With its literal global coverage of deliveries, it is not that uncommon to see FedEx delivery trucks out on Brentwood’s streets. Even though it is an international corporation, there are a number of people on Long Island who work for the company.

So, this week’s story about a man suing FedEx for wrongful dismissal may not seem that unusual, as someone here could easily have done the same at some point. Though the former driver did not work for a New York FedEx office and has not filed his lawsuit in New York, his story is somewhat universal.

The driver alleges that the operations manager at his branch first started retaliating against him in 2010 after his daughter fell ill. The worker was forced to take off a week of work to care for her. The manager gave the driver a warning letter and forced him to take counesling following his return.

There are certain laws that protect employees that need to take time off of work to care for sick dependents and retaliating against employees for using that time is illegal. On that alone, had the driver wished, he could have filed a lawsuit alleging the violation of his employment rights.

Then, three years later, the man was eventually fired. Whether the situation surrounding his termination was a violation of his rights requires a deeper examination, but there are serious concerns about his firing.

Employment law can be tricky and trying to determine if someone was wrongfully dismissed often requires careful argumentation by an experienced employment lawyer.

Source: The West Virginia Record, “Man accuses FedEx of wrongful termination,” Kyla Asbury, May 15, 2014

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