A legal fight is preliminarily over between Federal Express Corp., the world’s largest express transportation company, and two of its employees over short-term military leave.
A federal court filing in Georgia shows FedEx has agreed to pay $900,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company failed to pay workers for military leave despite paying for other short-term leave benefits, including for jury duty and bereavement time.
The plaintiffs were Charlinda Williams, now a former FedEx worker, and Richard Quichocho, a current employee. A court filing on July 31 requests preliminary approval of the settlement they struck with FedEx to end the claim filed under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
The workers argued that service members did not receive the same benefits as their civilian colleagues, which violates anti-discrimination provisions of the USERRA. Other military personnel have sued their respective employers for allegedly skirting USERRA laws.
“Given the uncertainty of establishing both liability and the amount of monetary relief, and as the settlement represents between 46% and 90% what the pay class would likely recover…the settlement represents a fair, reasonable and adequate result for the classes and should receive preliminary approval,” Quichocho and Williams wrote in their court filing.
Federal Law Allows Paid Leave For Service Members
Under USERRA, an employee who takes leave to serve in the armed forces shall be permitted to use any accrued vacation or paid sick leave before such service.
An employer may not require such an employee to use his or her vacation or paid sick leave during his or her service in the Armed Forces. Also, when an employee returns from military leave, he or she is entitled to the rights and benefits that he or she would have attained if he or she had remained continuously employed with the company.
“Approval of a class-action settlement is a two-step process,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, R. Joseph Barton, of the Barton Firm LLC, told Military.com. “First, preliminary approval followed by notice to the class, and then final approval after class members have had an opportunity to comment on or object to the settlement.”
Williams filed suit against FedEx in March 2024. As a sergeant in the Air National Guard, Williams said she did not receive pay from FedEx when she had to take a few weeks off per year from her courier position for training exercises.
Quichocho was added to the suit as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves who works for FedEx as a senior aviation maintenance technician. He claimed he lost pay while taking short-term military leave, even as other civilian FedEx workers were compensated for jury duty, bereavement and sick leave.
According to last week’s court filing, FedEx has agreed to provide paid short-term military leave benefits to service members, amounting to 80 hours of paid leave for full-time, non-pilot workers, in addition to 40 hours of paid leave for part-time, non-pilot workers every year.
FedEx Responds to Class Action Settlement Filing
In a statement released to Military.com, FedEx expressed its commitment to military member employees.
“FedEx is proud of our long history of supporting team members who serve in the armed forces,” the statement read. “We continue to comply with all state and federal laws with regard to military leave, and we look forward to continuing to support our team members’ short-term military leave needs.”
The $900,000 payout will be shared among a class of about 1,100 current and former non-pilot FedEx workers who took unpaid short-term military leave from Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2024.
When subtracting the approximate total of $300,000 in attorney fees, the plaintiffs in the case could see average payouts of about $350 per person.
“We believe this is an excellent result for the classes because it provides most of the monetary relief that the pay class members could have likely obtained, and also provides (the class) with a significant amount for future paid short-term military leave,” Barton said. “We commend FedEx for adopting such a policy in connection with this settlement that really shows that FedEx really values the efforts and sacrifices of its service member employees.”
FedEx, which is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., employs more than 500,000 workers across the globe, according to its website.
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