Former UPS Driver Wins $238 Million Verdict in Suit Over Firing

A Black UPS driver won a $237.6 million jury verdict in a case in which he alleged he’d been discriminated against and subject to a hostile work environment before being fired.

The verdict, rendered Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington at Yakima, may be both the biggest of its kind and the biggest ever in the state, said attorney Dustin Collier, one of the lawyers who represented plaintiff Tahvio Gratton.

Gratton was awarded $39.6 million for emotional distress along with $198 million in punitive damages, according to a transcript provided by Collier. The verdict sheet is not yet publicly available.

“We thank the jury for seeing the truth, vindicating our client’s rights, and sending a powerful message to UPS that our communities will not tolerate racial discrimination, harassment, or retaliation against the victims of discrimination and harassment,” the attorney said.

The parcel delivery service, in a statement to Bloomberg Law, said it would appeal.

The trial started Sept. 9.

On Summary Judgment

Gratton filed the lawsuit in October 2022 and amended his complaint six months later. Earlier this year, US District Judge Thomas O. Rice denied a United Parcel Service Inc. bid for summary judgment.

Gratton had claimed he was frequently laid off in favor of white drivers with less seniority than him; repeatedly called “boy” by a supervisor; and given a less desirable route and a worse truck.

After filing grievances in 2018, 2020, and 2021 alleging racial discrimination and other workplace mistreatment, he said he was fired in 2021 following a sexual harassment investigation into whether he deliberately touched a female employee’s back.

UPS contends Gratton touched his colleague’s hip while she was bent over.

A reasonable jury could find Gratton was fired for speaking out and UPS’ stated reason for his firing — alleging he assaulted an employee — was pretextual, Rice said in his April ruling, sending the case on for trial.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s decision but respect the process and the deliberations of the jury,” UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara said in the email. “We intend to appeal the verdict based on a number of evidentiary and legal errors.”

Zaccara said the company takes retaliation seriously, has prevention policies in place, and maintains its former driver was fired for an unprovoked assault on a female coworker.

Gratton was represented by Collier Socks LLP of Corte Madera, Calif., and Shishido Taren Goldsworthy PLLC of Seattle. UPS was represented by the Portland, Ore., office of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, together with Lewis Brisbois in Seattle.

The case is Gratton v. United Parcel Service Inc., E.D. Wash., 22-cv-3149, 9/12/24

— With assistance from Patrick Dorrian.

Top photo: A United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) driver pushes a trolley with Amazon boxes during a delivery in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Amazon.com Inc.’s two-day Prime Day sale kicks off on Tuesday and is expected to give the world’s largest e-commerce company an early advantage over brick-and-mortar rivals still contending with pandemic-spooked consumers wary of battling Black Friday crowds. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg.