FedEx fires Black delivery driver who said he was attacked by White father and son
A FedEx delivery driver who said two White men shot at and chased him in Mississippi in 2022 has now been fired from his job, he and his attorney said Monday.
"I honestly feel disrespected," the former driver, D'Monterrio Gibson, 25, told The Associated Press shortly after he received an email from FedEx about his termination.
Meredith Miller, manager of global network communications for FedEx, confirmed Monday that "Mr. Gibson is no longer employed at FedEx," but did not respond to other questions from AP.
A Mississippi judge on August 17 cited police errors in declaring a mistrial for the father and son charged in the attack. A detective testified about failing to give prosecutors and defense attorneys a copy of a videotaped police interview with Gibson.
Carlos Moore, an attorney who has represented Gibson in a civil lawsuit, provided AP with a copy of an email Gibson received from FedEx on Monday. It said Gibson's employment was terminated July 26, and the company attempted to deliver a letter and documents to him about the termination July 31.
FedEx fired Gibson because he did not accept a part-time, non-courier job that the company offered in mid-July, Moore said, adding that he did not know whether the company gave Gibson a deadline to accept.
"They can't tell me when I should be ready to come back," Gibson said.
Worker's comp, therapy, trouble sleeping
Gibson said he has been on worker's compensation leave, at about one-third of his pay, since shortly after he reported the attack to police in Brookhaven, Mississippi, on the night it allegedly happened, Jan. 24, 2022.
Gibson was not injured in the shooting or chase, but said Monday that he has been in therapy to deal with anxiety because of it. He said he still has trouble sleeping.
Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by Gibson. Prosecutors said they intend to schedule a new trial for the two men, who remain out on bond. A court official said the judge's docket is full through December.
Moore said Gibson had done nothing wrong before two White men tried to stop him, with one of the men holding a gun.
"He was simply Black while working," Moore said during a news conference in 2022. Gibson had said he was told by his superiors to run the same route the day after the chase, CBS affiliate WJTV reported.
"The following day, we had to go file a police report, and as soon as I was done filing a police report, they put me back on the same route. I did that for like a day or two until I started having real bad anxiety attacks, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I asked them for some time off, which I do have, but it's unpaid," said Gibson at the time.
In a statement earlier this year, FedEx said: "FedEx takes situations of this nature very seriously, and we are 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 investigating authorities."
Although nobody was injured, the alleged incident has sparked social media complaints of racism in Brookhaven, about 55 miles south of the state capital, Jackson.
Gibson reported that the encounter happened as he was making FedEx deliveries in a van with the Hertz logo on three sides. After he dropped off a package at a home on a dead-end public road, Gregory Case, then 58, used a pickup truck to try to block the van from leaving, and his son Brandon Case, 35 at the time, came outside with a gun, District Attorney Dee Bates told jurors last week.
As Gibson drove the van around the pickup truck, shots were fired, with three rounds hitting the delivery van and some of the packages inside, Bates said.
Gregory Case saw a rental van with a Florida license plate outside his mother-in-law's unoccupied home after dark, defense attorney Terrell Stubbs told jurors. The elder Case was just going to ask the van driver what was going on, but the driver did not stop, Stubbs said.
Grand Jury: Brookhaven Police "complacent"
On August 10, a federal judge dismissed Gibson's federal lawsuit seeking $5 million from FedEx, writing that the lawsuit failed to prove the company discriminated against him because of his race. That litigation also named the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the Cases. Moore said he plans to file a new civil suit in state court, seeking $10 million.
A grand jury issued a report last month saying that Brookhaven Police Department officers "poorly investigate their cases." The grand jury, made up of local residents, considered more than 60 criminal cases, and wrote that the department is "complacent," "does not complete investigations in a timely manner," shows a "lack of professionalism" and "has a habit of witness blaming."