FedEx sued for disability discrimination against ramp transport drivers

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against shipping and logistics company FedEx over policy on ramp transport drivers with medical restrictions.

On September 6, 2024, the EEOC announced that a lawsuit had been filed against FedEx, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In the suit, authorities claim that FedEx “violated federal law when it failed to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified, disabled ramp transport drivers with medical restrictions, and instead forced them to take unpaid leave or fired them.”

The initial complaint came from a ramp transport driver working out of a FedEx facility in Minneapolis who sustained an injury that interfered with her ability to lift objects. She was placed on temporary light duty, then unpaid medical leave, then was ultimately terminated because she could not do the job without medical restrictions. The EEOC says that she could have performed the job if FedEx had made accommodations.

The EEOC launched an investigation into FedEx in the wake of this complaint.

The lawsuit asserts that since November 2019, FedEx has maintained a 100%-healed policy against ramp transport drivers, who drive tractor trailers and operate mechanical equipment to load and unload pallets or containers loaded with freight.

Per the policy, when FedEx learned of a ramp transport driver with a medical restriction, they were placed on 90-day temporary light-duty assignment. After the 90 days were up, if the driver still had medical restrictions, FedEx would place the driver on unpaid medical leave that expired after one year unless the driver qualified for short- or long-term disability benefits.

Officials say that FedEx failed to discuss reasonable workplace accommodations to allow the ramp transport drivers to continue working, including getting assistance from coworkers or using motorized equipment to help move freight. The EEOC accuses FedEx of keeping the transport drivers on unpaid leave until they could prove they had no medical restrictions, or until the medical leave expired, at which time they would be terminated.

“100%-healed policies, like the one FedEx has, cost qualified workers their livelihood without giving them individual consideration,” said Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office. “Under the ADA, employers have an obligation to explore reasonable accommodations and not to screen out qualified individuals with disabilities who can do their jobs.”