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Thursday, September 17, 1998
UPS employees sue company, allege racial discrimination
By Carri Geer
Review-Journal
Four people who have worked in the United Parcel Service's distribution center in Las Vegas filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that accused the company of engaging in a continuing practice of racial discrimination.
"UPS has pursued polices and procedures at its distribution center in Las Vegas that have the effect of treating African-American workers and non-African-American workers differently," the lawsuit alleged.
The complaint said the treatment included unequal enforcement of policies and procedures, unequal supervision, discriminatory investigations, unfair work assignments and use of discretionary leave.
No representatives of the Delaware corporation could be reached for comment after the complaint was filed late Wednesday.
Las Vegas attorneys Bert Mitchell and John Kelleher filed the lawsuit on behalf of Erwin Tory, Mark Sampson, Frederick Brown and Mavis Davis.
All four plaintiffs are black and have worked full-time as delivery drivers for UPS in Las Vegas. The lawsuit said Sampson was wrongfully forced to resign in December 1996; the other plaintiffs continue to work for the company.
The lawsuit said UPS officials have discriminated against Tory by assigning him to high-crime areas because he "is allegedly 'more familiar' with the route" in those areas. According to the lawsuit, Tory was robbed at gunpoint in 1995 while delivering packages in a crime-ridden section of Las Vegas and was subjected to a "grueling investigation" about the robbery.
"This treatment was vastly different than the treatment afforded white drivers who were robbed during the same period of time," the complaint alleged.
The lawsuit said Davis, the only black female driver in the district, has been subjected to a hostile work environment because of her gender and race.
Sampson was assigned to an "extremely dangerous route" that included West Jackson Avenue, according to the lawsuit, and was robbed at gunpoint in 1994 and 1996.
"During the period of the second robbery in November of 1996, UPS was experiencing a rash of armed robberies," the complaint said. "However, non-African-American drivers were treated entirely different than plaintiff Mark Sampson."
UPS officials insisted Sampson was responsible for the robbery, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit's claims regarding Sampson included breach of contract and slander. He is seeking reinstatement and back pay.
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