Former UPS worker awarded $2.63 million

[hdkappler]

well one injured ups worker has a least 2million dollars.

 

[tieguy]

Of course but how smart was the center manager to send him out on the road when in the morning pcm the driver said his DL was expired and needed time off to renew it?

I don't know the facts the case so its difficult to defend his actions. Some states have a thirty or 90 day grace period before the license is actually expired.

 

[overallowed]

I am sorry to hear of everybodys problems, but I tore my rotator cuff 2 1/2 years ago at age 53 and I was treated very well by the company. They were going to give me a warning letter for not using a hand rail, as I fell down outside on icy stairs. They went to take pictures and discovered there was no hand rail, and not another word was said about a letter. UPS sent me to a very good doctor 200 miles away from home ($.33 per mile). I had a successful surgery. I went to the doctor often enough for follow-ups I was able to see 4 Major League Baseball games and was lucky enough to get free tickets 3 times. I was off work 7 months. I had a great time. Doctor wrote on limitation not to lift anything heavy over shoulder height (failed to define "heavy", told me to use my judgement). Within 1 year of returning to work, I was given a new P1000 with power steering and automatic transmission. I never run stratch. They don't bother me much. I just do my thing and try to fly under the radar.

 

[trplnkl]

Everyone has made some very good points here and most are correct, IMO, just on different levels. If in av8's state you must appear at the DMV to get your license renewed then it should be just a matter of the driver being given the time to do so, after all it occurs with every driver, right? However it IS the driver's responsibility to have the DL renewed. Here in my state I just go online and click on renew amd two weeks later I have the new license in hand.

How can a center manager send out a driver without a valid DL? That one's easy he has an OCS/safety sup to blame it on when it goes sour and keeps his (the center manager's) butt covered.

IMO, The safety program would not exist if it were not for OSHA's presence. UPS's main concern for safety is when it comes to the dollars and cents (not sense).

av8 I fail to see the logic in "Seems like a licensed driver at the least would be safer than a non licensed one", I don't lose all my safe driving abilities because my license might expire.

I feel I should add here that my opinions may be a bit askewed due to the misuse and misapplication of safety rules and commettees that I have personally witnessed.

 

[upsdude]

Everyone has made some very good points here and most are correct, IMO, just on different levels. If in av8's state you must appear at the DMV to get your license renewed then it should be just a matter of the driver being given the time to do so, after all it occurs with every driver, right? However it IS the driver's responsibility to have the DL renewed. Here in my state I just go online and click on renew amd two weeks later I have the new license in hand.

How can a center manager send out a driver without a valid DL? That one's easy he has an OCS/safety sup to blame it on when it goes sour and keeps his (the center manager's) butt covered.

IMO, The safety program would not exist if it were not for OSHA's presence. UPS's main concern for safety is when it comes to the dollars and cents (not sense).

av8 I fail to see the logic in "Seems like a licensed driver at the least would be safer than a non licensed one", I don't lose all my safe driving abilities because my license might expire.

I feel I should add here that my opinions may be a bit askewed due to the misuse and misapplication of safety rules and commettees that I have personally witnessed.

In Virginia you may also renew online, BUT! If your license expires you need to round up your birth cert, ss card, and take the test. Your "expired" dmv issued license is not accepted as a form of ID.

I can tell you that my center manager would NOT allow a driver on road knowing his/her license was expired. Yes, even if it was December 24th.

 

[trplnkl]

I can tell you that my center manager would NOT allow a driver on road knowing his/her license was expired. Yes, even if it was December 24th.

Same here.
We get a notice in the mail about a month to six weeks before expiration date from the state that our DL is about to expire. Plus, the company HR department sends a notice to the center team and the on car sups stay on your butt till you get them a photo copy of your new license to put in a file. They do the same on the DOT physical.

 

[av8torntn]

I don't know the facts the case so its difficult to defend his actions. Some states have a thirty or 90 day grace period before the license is actually expired.

That may be true here. I do not know. I do remember that the driver did not get a citation for the accident. That leads me to believe there may be some kind of grace period here. I know they made a big deal about it after the fact.

 

[av8torntn]

av8 I fail to see the logic in "Seems like a licensed driver at the least would be safer than a non licensed one", I don't lose all my safe driving abilities because my license might expire.
.

Well I was thinking you have to renew your license for safety purposes. I was guessing that is why you have to take the eye test every time you go down there. I was thinking if you have a current dot card this should work in its place but doesn't. I think the renewal test is about 15 questions. After reading these threads we are getting ripped off. We need that online renewal thing here. The lines at the DMV are brutal. If you happen to be standing there when they go on lunch they kick everyone out for an hour. If we could do that I could see where the main reason to renew you license was to raise tax revenue.

 

[rocket man]

Im glad he one i hpoe ups spend 3 million more fighting it and ups loses.

 

[tieguy]

Im glad he one i hpoe ups spend 3 million more fighting it and ups loses.

hooked on ebonics?

 

[trickpony1]

BeatenUpBrown-

would you have any more information on this case such as links, local newspaper articles, case number, etc.?

Thanks.

 

[LKLND3380]

Former UPS worker awarded $2.63 million


An employee for 18 years with United Parcel Service, Keith Jones lost his job as a package car driver after he suffered a shoulder injury and sought workers’ compensation.
Jones had a history of work-related injuries and workers’ comp claims. After his October 2003 injury, Jones claimed his immediate supervisor asked him if he “knew what work comp fraud was” and said he was harassed by other UPS supervisors.
UPS requires that package car drivers be able to lift packages weighing 70 pounds overhead. But after the company doctor examined Jones and limited his lifting to 20 pounds, Jones was released for modified duty. A second doctor imposed similar lifting restrictions.
A third doctor, however, concluded that Jones could return to his old job without restrictions. UPS’ doctor later came to the same conclusion. Nonetheless, two months after sustaining his injury, UPS told Jones he would not be allowed to return to work.
In 2005, Jones sued UPS for disability discrimination and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1974 and Kansas public policy. In 2005, a federal judge threw out most of the claims. Jones appealed and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, leaving only Jones’ claim for retaliation under Kansas public policy.
That, however, was enough for a federal jury last month to award Jones a whopping $2.63 million in damages, including $2 million in punitive damages.
“We were able to show the outrageous and brazen fashion in which UPS retaliated against Mr. Jones through evidence of, among other things, repeatedly and admittedly sabotaging his efforts to return to work after he filed a workers’ compensation claim,” one of Jones’ attorneys, Frederic D. Deay II, said in an e-mail.
In the petition filed on behalf of Jones, Deay and Jones’ other attorneys, George Barton and Phyllis Norman, went further than that, asserting that the conduct of UPS was part of a nationwide corporate policy to harass employees who sustain work-related injuries and file workers’ comp claims.
“It is UPS’ policy to create a work environment so hostile and disruptive for its injured employees that they will either altogether avoid exercising their lawful rights and/or resign — if they are not first terminated,” the petition alleged.
Kristen Petrella, a spokeswoman for UPS, declined to address that allegation but said the company was “an employer of choice, recognized for opportunity, training, safety and benefit programs.”
She said UPS disagreed with the Jones verdict and had filed a notice of appeal.
In a case last year in Pennsylvania, employees contended that UPS discouraged injured workers from returning unless they were “100 percent healed” and had no medical restrictions.
A federal judge certified a nationwide class action on behalf of former and current UPS employees who allegedly were prevented from returning to work for those reasons. UPS has appealed.

I am glad someone is making decent money for working at UPS for 18 years

 

[dilligaf]

This same thing (original post) happened to my old steward, now 2 years ago. She is still fighting to get her job back. She had, then, 20 yrs in.

 

[davlops]

Happened to me also. 12 years employed, then terminated due to this 100 percent healed policy.