EEOC investigates bias claim over FedEx employee test

FedEx Corp., the second-biggest US package-shipping company, is being investigated for an alleged pattern of discrimination against blacks and Latinos, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said.

The firm requires that employees pass a cognitive abilities test for promotion past entry level, according to an employee complaint that the EEOC said yesterday it's investigating. The test has an adverse effect on black and Latino workers and is therefore discriminatory, the complaint claimed.

FedEx ignored an EEOC subpoena for information related to its investigation, including types of computerized or machine-readable files the company keeps regarding personnel decisions, the EEOC said. The agency asked a federal judge in Arizona to order compliance.

``It is unusual for an employer to try to stonewall the EEOC at such an early stage in our investigation," said Mary Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix office . ``We are hopeful that the court will order this employer to comply with the EEOC subpoena."

The shipper agreed in October to pay $500,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit on behalf of 20 black employees who say they were denied promotions because of their race. In 2004, FedEx was ordered to pay $1.57 million in another EEOC suit for retaliating against a white manager who tried to promote minority workers.

Sandra Munoz, a FedEx spokeswoman, said the company has fully cooperated with the current investigation.

``The law is clear that once the EEOC issues a right to sue to the complainant, the investigation is closed and they can no longer subpoena more information from the company."