Following five years of litigation, Fed Ex settled allegations that it violated California state labor laws by failing to pay delivery drivers overtime wages, provide proper meal breaks and to maintain sufficient pay records.
A federal judge in California approved the $4 million settlement, which will benefit more than 7,422 Fed Ex delivery drivers.
A Fed Ex representative said that the company continued to deny liability in the case, but agreed to a settlement to avoid the cost and uncertainty of continued litigation.
The parties said the agreement struck a fair balance between potential damages and the risk of continued litigation. After a full-day mediation session in March, the company agreed to the current deal.
Fed Ex driver, Marc Garvey, sued the company in March 2007, claiming the company had breached California’s Labor Code and the state’s Business and Professions Code by underpaying its employees and failing to offer them enough break time. Then, in November 2010, Cedric Lauderdale, another Fed Ex courier and a 20-year company employee, lodged an overlapping lawsuit in state court. After Fed Ex removed the case to the federal level, the cases were eventually combined.
The settlement covers all current and former Fed Ex employees who worked as delivery drivers in California from April 15, 2006 to present.
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