DHL Express and FedEx have agreed to pay compensation and a fine respectively in separate casesover wrongdoings that took place several years ago in the USA.
DHL Express and its local partner CD&L have agreed to pay $10.5 million to Linda Magyary, acar driver who was severely injured in an accident six and a half years ago caused by DHL driverSusan McKinley. In May 2005, Magyary’s car was struck by McKinley’s package delivery truck inLancaster, California, and she suffered severe injuries in the crash. After initialhospitalisation, she was discharged to intensive home health care, living assistance and physicaltherapy.
DHL claimed McKinley was an independent contractor, not an employee, and that the company thuswasn’t liable for the behaviour of the driver, who admitted to smoking marijuana the morning of thecrash. The case was settled on October 31, 2011 after a jury decided DHL and CD&L wereMcKinley’s direct employer.
Alexander R. Wheeler, one of Magyary’s trial attorneys from R.Rex Parris Law Firm, commented:“The case is an example of the hard fight that injury lawyers must mount against companies that doeverything they can to deny accountability and leave their innocent victims holding the bag.”
In a separate case, FedEx has agreed to pay a $370,000 civil penalty to settle allegations thatit committed six violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) relating to itsprovision of freight forwarding services to exporters.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alleged FedEx wasinvolved in acts prohibited by the regulations when it facilitated unlicensed export of goods toSyria, China and the United Arab Emirates in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. The cases involvedthe transport of printer components to Syria, electronic components to Dubai and flight simulationsoftware to a Beijing university.
The BIS controls exports and re-exports of dual-use commodities, technology, and software forreasons of national security, missile technology, nuclear non-proliferation, chemical andbiological weapons non-proliferation, crime control, regional stability, foreign policy andanti-terrorism.
A FedEx spokesman told the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper that the shipments were “limitedshipping issues” and were “a rare error” and stressed the company had cooperated fully with theauthorities.
