FedEx to pay $2.3 million in sex-harassment case in US
A federal jury in Philadelphia awarded a former FedEx Corp. supervisor $2.3 million after finding that the express company retaliated against her after she complained about sexual discrimination.
Kathleen Talbot-Lima, of Chalfont, Pa., worked for FedEx for 17 years before she was fired in 2000 from her job as a senior manager at the company’s Philadelphia office. She had been transferred there from the Allentown, Pa. facility after she attempted to assist a female truck driver who filed a sexual harassment case there, her attorney Martha Sperling stated.
After she was transferred to Philadelphia, Talbot-Lima filed her own sexual harassment complaint, alleging management “accused (her) of forging documents, intimidating people and gross leadership failure,” Sperling said.
A FedEx spokeswoman said the Memphis-based company would appeal the decision.
The jury returned its decision Feb. 21 after a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Patrice Tucker. Jurors awarded Talbot-Lima $300,000 in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.
A December trial ended in a hung jury, Sperling said.
