EAST ST. LOUIS — A former FedEx worker alleges the company failed to take any action to stop a hostile work environment.
Carissa M. Watt filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against FedEx Ground Package System Inc., alleging gender discrimination, retaliation and other claims.
According to the complaint, Watt began working as a package handler at the FedEx facility in Sauget on Jan. 8, 2019, and was promoted as an operations administrator several months later. She claims she had a "short consensual" relationship with a male operations manager. She alleges that after the relationship ended, he began harassing her and treating her differently than other employees. Specifically, Watt claims the manager made comments that she looked like a "hoe," started rumors that she was selling nude photographs and posted sexually oriented cartoons and other negative comments about her on Facebook.
Watt alleges FedEx's HR department did not respond to her complaints even after she reported the harassment to the company hotline in July 2020. She alleges the harassment became so bad that she began having panic attacks and took a demotion in order to avoid the manager. However, she claims he was intentionally moved to work near her new work area. According to her suit, she ended her employment with FedEx on Oct. 28, 2020.
Watt seeks monetary and all other just relief. She is represented by Ryan Furniss of The Furniss Law Firm LLC in St. Louis.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-CV-00727