By Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Published: September 25, 2024, 8:55am
A jury has awarded a United Parcel Service driver in Eastern Washington $237.6 million after concluding he was discriminated against and then suffered retaliation and was fired after filing complaints.
The award by a jury in Spokane to Tahvio Gratton of Yakima includes $198 million in punitive damages and $39.6 million for emotional distress.
UPS has asked U.S. Judge Thomas Rice not to enter the judgment, saying the amount is excessive and that Gratton had not proved his case. It also plans to ask for a new trial or a reduced judgment, it said in a federal court document.
It says that Gratton lost his job as a Yakima driver for UPS after it investigated a complaint that he sexually assaulted a female employee.
Gratton, who is Black, started working for UPS in September 2016 and transferred to its Yakima center in January 2018, where he worked until he was fired in October 2021.
He said that he was treated differently than his white peers, with his on-road supervisor ignoring him and speaking down to him while being friendly toward white drivers.
He filed complaints that part-time drivers were given routes before he was as a full-time driver on days that not all drivers were needed, despite a union agreement that full-time drivers be given preference. He was the only full-time driver not given work, according to the lawsuit.
At the company, not being assigned a route was called a daily layoff, according to the lawsuit.
UPS worker called ‘Boy’
In April 2018, a manager who was white and younger spent the day riding with Gratton and repeatedly called him “Boy,” according to the lawsuit.
“Move faster, Boy, let’s go!” and “Boy, I told you to hurry!” he said, according to the lawsuit. When Gratton asked him to stop, the manager said he was from the South and that’s how he talked.
A Footlocker employee described the manager’s conduct toward Gratton as “shocking” when they stopped at her store.
He was barking orders at Gratton and repeatedly called him “Boy,” according to court documents.
She said that Gratton was working quickly and efficiently and that she was certain the manager’s conduct was due to Gratton being Black, according to court documents.
As Gratton filed more complaints about his treatment, his work assignments became worse or he was assigned no work, even when it meant that managers had to fill in as drivers, the lawsuit said.
To get work, Gratton volunteered for what drivers considered the worst route because it required delivering many large packages at a mall, which was time consuming.
The center manager asked another driver to bid for the mall route to prevent Gratton from working, but that employee refused, according to the lawsuit.
When Gratton did drive the mall route, the only one he was allowed, he also was given out-of-the-way stops that kept him on the route until late in the evening, according to the lawsuit.
Gratton was repeatedly called into the office over the loudspeaker for discriminatory scrutiny, the lawsuit said.
Issues included having visible tattoos and wearing a sweater, both of which were allowed for white drivers.
Other Black employees also faced discrimination, and were given more difficult routes and then criticized for taking too long, the lawsuit said.
One Black driver was forced to cut his hair after he complained he was not being paid correctly, the lawsuit said. White drivers were allowed to wear long hair.
UPS calls jury award excessive
UPS said that Gratton was fired after an investigation of an accusation of a sexual assault.
Gratton’s attorney attempted to show that the accusation was retaliatory and maintained in court documents that his firing was due to discrimination and retaliation.
UPS said the evidence presented during the four-day trial “comes nowhere close to meeting the demanding standards for punitive damages — let alone the jury’s punitive damages award of $198 million.”
The award also included $39.6 million for emotional distress, which UPS said was excessive and should not be awarded.
