FedEx Must Defend Manager’s Sex Discrimination Claims

By John McCoy

FedEx Corp. must defend against a senior manager’s claims of sex discrimination, but not her retaliation charge, a federal district court ruled March 8.

The court’s finding was somewhat atypical. More often than not when a court allows certain employment-related claims to proceed, it’s the retaliation charge that survives and the discrimination claim that is defeated.

Christi Free, a senior manager of hub operations, sued the shipping giant, saying it used gender as a criteria for advancement, and retaliated against her when she called the company out for it. Free filed an internal grievance alleging sex discrimination, ...