GALVESTON – Two former delivery drivers for FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. are suing the company for allegedly terminating them in response to their complaints about discrimination based on their respective national origins.
Galveston County resident Flamur Hoxha and Harris County resident Vasile Raitaru filed the lawsuit on Oct. 14 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas. Hoxha, who was born in Albania, and Raitaru, who was born in Romania, explain that they experienced “rampant harassment” while working for Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Ground.
According to court papers, the plaintiffs were accused of being immigrants taking jobs from Americans though they are United States citizens, as well as mockingly addressed as Russians.
“This conduct occurred on virtually a daily basis, even though Plaintiffs made it clear that it was not appreciated or funny,” the suit says.
It further shows that the men were assigned heavier workloads than their black co-workers, asserting that they performed said workloads successfully without any complaints about their job performances.
FedEx Ground’s management reportedly failed to take action in light of the plaintiffs’ complaints. The company cited “hours of service operations violations” as grounds for their termination to which the original petition counters was a retaliatory move.
Consequently, the complainants seek unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney David C. Holmes of the Law Offices of David C. Holmes in Houston is representing Hoxha while attorney Stanley P. Santire of the law firm Santire Law Firm PLLC in Houston serves as Raitaru’s counsel.
Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 3:16-CV-0293