By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out a $366.2 million verdict against FedEx in a case brought by a Black sales manager who said the package delivery company fired her in retaliation for accusing his supervisor of racial discrimination.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said plaintiff Jennifer Harris was not entitled to any of the $365 million in punitive damages a Houston jury awarded her in October 2022.
It also reduced Harris’ damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience from $1.16 million to $248,620, despite the discovery of sufficient evidence to support his retaliation claim.
FedEx said in a statement that it remains confident it acted correctly regarding Harris’ dismissal and was pleased with the court’s decision to reduce damages.
Harris’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The award against Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx was among the largest in a U.S. workplace bias or retaliation case involving a single worker.
Harris had worked for FedEx for more than 12 years, first as a sales representative and then as a district sales manager, before being fired in January 2020.
She said her firing stemmed from her complaints that her supervisor, a white woman, had given her a poor performance review and who Harris said tried to demote her.
But the New Orleans appeals court said Harris did not meet the “heavy burden” imposed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to demonstrate that FedEx acted with malice or reckless indifference toward him. , faced with a “perceived risk”. that his actions would violate federal law.
Circuit Judge Cory Wilson said the evidence suggested the supervisor believed Harris should be disciplined for insubordination, not in retaliation for her complaints.
“For punitive damages, it is the subjective intent of the employer that matters,” Wilson wrote for a three-judge panel.
This is the case of Harris v. FedEx Corporate Services Inc, 5th United States Court of Appeals, No. 23-20035.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; additional reporting by Nilutpal Timsina; editing by Stephen Coates and Christopher Cushing)
