SACRAMENTO – A former Fed Ex employee has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleging age discrimination and retaliation and other wrongdoing.
Defendant FedEx Corporate Services Inc. is the defendant in the lawsuit Mark Escalante filed April 25.
Escalante’s lawsuit was originally filed in the Stanislaus County Superior Court. Fed Ex, however, petitioned to have it removed to the federal court.
Fed Ex said in the petition for removal that it “vigorously denies plaintiff’s allegations.”
The company said the case meets the requirements for removal because it deals with a dispute between parties that are residents of or based in different states, with Fed Ex’s headquarters outside of California.
In addition, although Escalante’s complaint does not say exactly how much he seeks in damages from the company, Fed Ex said in the petition that “his complaint contemplates an amount in controversy in excess of $75,000, exclusive of costs and interest, in that he seeks consequential damages, special damages, general damages for emotional distress and mental anguish, exemplary and punitive damages, prejudgment interest and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of suit.”
Since the plaintiff was paid more than $50,000 per year while he was employed by Fed Ex and “will likely seek lost wages from his termination date through trial plus loss of future wages, the company said “his wage loss to date exceeds $75,000.”