Home Civil UPS Driver Wins Six Figure Sex Discrimination Suit

UPS Driver Wins Six Figure Sex Discrimination Suit

 UPS Driver Wins Six Figure Sex Discrimination Suit

UPS Driver Wins Six Figure Sex Discrimination Suit: Woman Awarded $600,000 After Enduring Extensive Discrimination

Introduction

A UPS driver from Odessa, Texas has won a six-figure settlement in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the company. The woman had been subjected to extensive discrimination and harassment on the job, but a jury ultimately found in her favor, recognizing the harm that had been done to her.

Background

The woman in question had worked as a UPS driver for more than a decade, but had been subjected to a variety of forms of discrimination and harassment during that time. This included being passed over for promotions and being subjected to derogatory comments and slurs from her male colleagues.

Despite her complaints to the company, little was done to address the situation. The woman ultimately filed a lawsuit against UPS, alleging sex discrimination and retaliation.

After a lengthy trial, a jury found in favor of the plaintiff, awarding her $600,000 in damages. The decision was met with hugs and congratulations from jurors, who had recognized the severity of the discrimination and harassment the woman had endured.

Impact on UPS

The verdict in the sex discrimination lawsuit is just one of many legal challenges that UPS has faced in recent years over its treatment of female employees. The company has come under fire for pay inequities, promotion disparities, and other forms of discrimination against women in the workplace.

While UPS has taken steps to address these issues, the lawsuit is a reminder that there is still much work to be done to create a truly inclusive and equitable workplace for women in the company and across the industry as a whole.

Conclusion

The settlement in the UPS sex discrimination lawsuit is a victory for the plaintiff and a reminder that inequality and discrimination have no place in the modern workplace. While progress has been made in recent years to address these issues, the case serves as a reminder that there is still much work to be done to create truly inclusive and equitable workplaces for all employees, regardless of their gender, race, or other identifying characteristics.


Jurors hugged an Odessa, Texas woman who had been subjected to extensive sex discrimination in her job as a UPS driver after delivering a $600,000 verdict in her favor.  Plaintiff Amber Ibarra was awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages after United Parcel Service failed to prevent sex discrimination in the workplace.

Ibarra’s lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 began after she was fired from her position in 2009.  While the firing occurred after an accident in which Ibarra’s vehicle collided with a pole, Ibarra contended that other drivers had actually had more serious accidents without having been fired or otherwise seriously disciplined.  Jurors agreed with this assessment when awarding the verdict in the case.

Since becoming employed by the Fort Stockton UPS facility in 1996 as the facility’s only full-time female driver, Ibarra says she was subjected to an atmosphere that was consistently hostile toward women.  For example, one of Ibarra’s supervisors made lewd and suggestive comments to Ibarra repeatedly, as well as calling her names.

In 2008, Ibarra and two other female employees made an official complaint against the supervisor who had made their workplace a hostile work environment.  While the supervisor was fired as a result of the UPS investigation, Ibarra claims that the treatment that caused the complaint continued, just with other managers instead.  Managers made crude comments about women’s inability to work, including comments that they were unable to perform job duties because of their menstrual periods.

Ibarra says that as a result of her complaint, UPS tried to make her workload significantly more than the loads of male drivers.  When Ibarra became pregnant, one of the male managers remarked that he had been saving some packages for her.  She found that six 100 pound packages had been set aside for her to deliver extremely late at night.  Soon after, she was fired for an accident that she said would never have led to a male driver being fired.

Ibarra says that supervisors at UPS routinely made fun of women in the workplace and said that they preferred not to work around women, claiming that women were inherently weaker and less able to perform their job functions.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and when this discrimination is willful, employers can be subject to civil penalties and significant punitive damages.

Source: uscourts.gov