Expounding the motto “The World on Time,” Memphis-based Federal Express is, on one glaring front, behind the times.
In 1998 FedEx attempted to join United Airlines and the Air Transport Association in a lawsuit aimed at bringing down San Francisco’s newly enacted Equal Benefits Ordinance, a municipal law requiring any contractor doing business with the city to extend benefits to domestic partners comparable to those extended to married couples.
In 1999 the Ninth Court of Appeals stated in S.D. Meyers vs. San Francisco that cities have a legitimate interest in preventing discrimination against unmarried families, both homosexual and heterosexual.
The contractor had filed the lawsuit against the city on the basis that domestic partnership benefits conflicted with the religious beliefs of the owners, who, according to the Lambda Legal Defense and Educational Fund, were fundamentalist Christians.
In 1999, FedEx extended bereavement leave and travel discounts, not health care benefits, to the domestic partners of its San Francisco workers. These benefits were not extended to its Memphis employees.
As reported in the San Francisco Examiner, FedEx complied with the law only after being threatened with the loss of its cargo facility at San Francisco International Airport.
A sophomore at The University of Memphis and a former FedEx employee, Eric Sirignano said, “I’m not surprised. As far as they’re concerned, it’s all business. The hub is based in the Bible Belt. They give a lot of money to religious organizations. FedEx’s reasons are religious-based. They’re not really concerned with the person. I was told to leave my personal life at home. That whole place disturbs me.”
FedEx’s moves are shadowed by those of United Airlines, American Airlines and U.S. Airways, which moved to extend domestic partnership benefits to all of their employees.
FedEx has won numerous awards, such as recognition as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” and as one of the “50 Best Companies in America for Asians, Blacks and Hispanics” by Fortune magazine.
FedEx works with various humanitarian organizations, such as the Red Cross and America’s Fund for Afghan Children.
Yet despite FedEx’s commitment to diversity, multiculturalism and community service, the recognition of domestic partnerships remains elusive.
Federal Express spokesperson Pam Roberson said, “FedEx policy is written to protect people within a protected class... To promote unity and to alleviate any action that may divide its workforce, the company [FedEx] does not distinguish between its employees on any prohibited or inappropriate basis.”
On June 27, a federal district court judge rejected an effort by the nation’s airlines to quash the Equal Benefits Ordinance on the grounds that California law, which establishes state registration for domestic partners, pre-empts the San Francisco ordinance.
Currently, governmental domestic partnership registries exist in more than 50 cities nationwide. State registries exist as well in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
In Memphis, Mayor W. W. Herenton is working with community leaders to propose a non-discrimination ordinance to the City Council. The ordinance would require that companies doing business with the city not discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation, and physical characteristics.
San Francisco’s Equal Benefits Ordinance was first passed in 1997 and has been followed by similar laws in Los Angeles and Seattle.
