Deaf former FedEx worker awarded $2 million by jury
The Mercury News in California reported that in May, a jury in a California courtroom awarded a deaf man named Younes Mchaar $2 million after he sued FedEx with claims that he was harassed and discriminated against when he worked for the company in San Jose.
Mchaar said in his lawsuit that he worked for FedEx in Virginia from 2011 to 2017 as a package handler but experienced discrimination because he did not get proper interpreting services and was denied promotions. He decided to transfer to a different FedEx workplace in San Jose and hoped for a better environment and higher pay, but found the same kind of oppression he experienced in Virginia.
Mchaar said FedEx promoted and assigned important projects to less-qualified and hearing employees. He said managers abused and harassed him and another deaf worker and demanded they stop talking to each other in sign language. Mchaar said FedEx refused to regularly provide him with an interpreter for monthly safety meetings.
—----
[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]
—--------
[Advertisement from Disaster Distress Helpline: After a disaster, you may be at risk for emotional distress. Warning signs can include feeling isolated, anxious, having trouble sleeping and more. If you or someone you know is Deaf or hard of hearing, the Disaster Distress Helpline offers a direct videophone option.
This free service for ASL users is answered 24/7 by trained crisis workers fluent in ASL and can be accessed using any videophone-enabled device and dialing 1-800-985-5990 or at https://bit.ly/3CEwnNT
—--------
The lawsuit said FedEx was supposed to provide video-based interpreting for daily staff meetings but the device did not arrive for over a year after he started and when it did arrive, it was glitchy.
Mchaar said at several meetings, a manager screamed at him and waved papers in his face as if he was stupid or mentally incapable of comprehension. He said a manager spit on him and after he reported it to the company, no action was taken.
Mchaar’s lawyers said FedEx responded to his complaints by writing him up 10 times and proposed his termination, at which point Mchaar resigned in December 2018.
The article said FedEx, in a court filing in December, claimed Mchaar tried to mislead the court with false information, but the jury apparently disagreed and awarded him $2 million for back pay and emotional distress.
In separate but related news, Reuters said in 2020, FedEx agreed to pay $3.3 million to over 220 deaf and hard of hearing workers who the EEOC claimed were turned down for jobs or denied accommodations in violation of federal law.
So this is at least two incidents in recent years in which FedEx paid out at least $2 million to deaf employees who said they experienced discrimination.