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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (CN) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued FedEx Corp. on Tuesday, claiming the shipping company discriminated against four blind package handlers.
FedEx has discriminated against blind employees who worked at its Kernersville facility, outside of Winston-Salem, the EEOC said in its suit, by not providing reasonable disability accommodations. The company also failed to maintain records in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC said.
Four blind package handlers who have been working for FedEx for several years were not provided with reasonable accommodations, the federal agency said. The package handlers filed independent complaints of discrimination with the EEOC, and the agency identified additional staff working at the facility who were also not provided with workplace accommodations, it said Tuesday.
The EEOC told FedEx that it found “reasonable cause to conclude” that the company discriminated against the package handlers and other staff in January 2025, the agency said, but the parties were not able to reach an agreement independently without filing suit.
The blind package handlers working at the facility can perform the essential functions of their jobs, and FedEx knew that they needed workplace accommodations to “enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as sighted employees,” the EEOC said in its complaint.
“Federal law is clear that failure to provide a needed reasonable accommodation for a disability where one is available and can be provided without causing an undue hardship is unlawful discrimination,” said Melinda Dugas, the regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District.
The company ignored and refuted numerous requests for accommodations since 2021, the EEOC said, including putting tactile tape on the floor to help blind staff navigate the facility and access their workstations, the bathroom and break areas. The impacted package handlers had to wait for security to call a manager, and then wait for the manager to escort them, causing unreasonable delays and sometimes preventing staff from being able to go to the bathroom when no one was available to help navigate.
FedEx installed a tactile product after EEOC staff visited the facility in January 2024, but didn’t engage in the interactive process with blind staff to identify what would help them best, and the tactile product was not installed on workstation paths or throughout the facility, the commission said. It also hasn’t been maintained and is covered by equipment and supplies in multiple places, rendering it unusable, the agency added.
The package handlers also asked for large print orientation materials, mobility instructors to help them learn the facility, enhanced lighting and screen reader software to access the employee computer terminals. FedEx said it has provided various accommodations, the EEOC said, calling the company’s efforts illusory and sporadic. FedEx could have provided reasonable accommodations without the process being an excessive hardship on the company, the agency said.
The shipping company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC claimed, by failing to provide reasonable accommodations and by not maintaining records of employee requests for accommodations.
A FedEx spokesperson told Courthouse News the company is reviewing the suit. “We are committed to complying with all requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and maintaining a workplace that is free from discrimination of any kind,” the spokesperson said.
The EEOC asked for the four package handlers — Angela Haynes, Shawn Morrison, Peter Hinton and Elizabeth Ellerby, who were not named as parties to the suit — to be given appropriate back pay and affirmative relief, and asked for a jury trial. Haynes and Ellerby have worked for FedEx since 2021, and Hinton and Morrison were hired in 2022.
FedEx describes the package handler jobs as working in a warehouse environment where staff track shipments and sort, process, load and unload packages. The EEOC is tasked with investigating businesses and private employers to ensure they are complying with federal law over employment discrimination.
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