After two white men shot at him while making deliveries, a Black FedEx worker says the company asked him to return to the same route. When he declined, the company put him on unpaid leave.
D’Monterrio Gibson recounted the harrowing details of escaping two white men –– identified as father-son duo Gregory and Brandon Case –– who shot at him while he was working in Brookhaven, the Mississippi Free Press reported earlier this month.
Gibson’s attorney said FedEx reinstated his pay after he initially declined to drive the same route where the Case duo attempted to carry out a “copycat of the Ahmaud Arbery case.”
“They put him back on the same route the next day, he rode for two days, it was too much on him,” attorney Carlos Moore said at a February 10 press conference. “He couldn’t bear it, and then they sent him home –– get this –– without pay,” Moore added. “He’s at home without pay on unpaid leave because he could not handle the stress of going on that same route.”
Gibson said he is getting therapy to deal with panic attacks after the incident. Moore announced the company has “voluntarily offered to pay for his counseling.” Days later, the company reinstated his paycheck retroactive to January 31.
In a statement to CNN, FedEx said they “takes situations of this nature very seriously” and were “shocked by this criminal act against our team member.”
“The safety of our team members is our top priority, and we remain focused on his wellbeing. We will continue to support Mr. Gibson as we cooperate with investigative authorities,” FedEx said.
Gibson’s attorney reached out to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, led by Kristen Clarke, who said the FBI has been made aware of the case, too.
Moore is calling on the DOJ and FBI to investigate the incident as a federal hate crime, stating, “We believe that this was a racially motivated crime.”
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