FedEx to pay $85,000 to California driving job seeker who was rejected for old conviction

California officials said that FedEx would pay tens of thousands of dollars to resolve allegations that a driving job applicant was unlawfully rejected based on an old conviction.

On June 3, 2026, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) announced FedEx would pay $85,000 directly to a complainant to settle allegations of a violation the state’s Fair Chance Act.

The California CRD accused FedEx of violating the Fair Chance Act “when a contractor rejected an applicant for a FedEx driving job based on an old and unrelated offense.”

Officials received a complaint in 2024 that a job seeker applied for a driving position with a FedEx contractor in Riverside County and “was screened out based on an old and unrelated offense, without the companies taking steps required under the Fair Chance Act.”

“The complaint also alleged that FedEx did not conduct an adequate individualized assessment of whether the conviction had an adverse relationship to the duties of the specific job, failed to clearly inform the applicant of their right to provide evidence of rehabilitation or mitigating circumstances, and did not notify the applicant of the final decision to withdraw the conditional offer of employment,” the California CRD said

“The Fair Chance Act is about giving everyone an opportunity to work,” said California CRD Director Kevin Kish. “We owe it to workers to do our part to deliver on the law’s promise for the people who deliver for us. This settlement will provide direct relief to a driver who spoke out about their rights — and it will help protect the rights of future job applicants at FedEx.”

California’s Fair Chance Act generally prohibits employers with five or more employees from asking about a job applicant’s conviction history before making a conditional job offer, requires specific procedures for considering an applicant’s criminal history after a conditional job offer, and requires that employers make an individualized assessment — asking whether an applicant’s conviction has a direct and adverse relationship to the job in question — before they deny someone an employment opportunity, according to the California CRD.

Per the settlement, FedEx is also required to take the following steps:

• Provide training on the Fair Chance Act to employees who review applicant backgrounds.
• Create and implement a California-specific job aid for employees who handle individualized assessments of job applicants.
• Revise its notices related to adverse employment decisions to include information required under the Fair Chance Act for all California job applicants.