Syracuse, NY -- A former FedEx employee who says she was raped by a supervisor at work has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against FedEx Corp. and her accused rapist alleging sexual discrimination and harassment. The woman filed the complaint on Wednesday. She was employed with FedEx since 1997 and was an operations manager with FedEx...
Syracuse, NY -- A former FedEx employee who says she was raped by a supervisor at work has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against FedEx Corp. and her accused rapist alleging sexual discrimination and harassment.
The woman filed the complaint on Wednesday. She was employed with FedEx since 1997 and was an operations manager with FedEx at its facility at 6313 Running Ridge Road, Cicero. The Post-Standard does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.
Alvin Beal, the man she accuses of raping her, is still employed with FedEx, said lawyer John Valentino, who is representing the woman.
“Mr. Beal is still an employee, but he is on leave,” FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz said Friday.
Munoz couldn’t comment on the reason or length of leave, saying that it is a confidential matter.
Beal, 47, of 4137 Sandbar Lane, Clay, was charged April 29 with two counts of third-degree rape, a felony, and two counts of sexual abuse and a count of forcible touching, both misdemeanors. Beal was arraigned on the charges and is free on bail.
Beal, according to the EEOC complaint, was the woman’s immediate supervisor.
The complaint alleges the woman was raped in 2009, once in August and once in September. Both times the woman was ordered by Beal to work alone with him on weekends, the complaint says.
The woman, who is a single mother, joined a co-worker in making a sexual harassment complaint that resulted in a suspension for Beal, the complaint states.
The woman underwent counseling by a therapist who encouraged her to report the rape to authorities, the complaint states.
On March 2, she first told a human resources manager about the rape and repeated the accusations on March 3 at the FedEx district office in Rochester.
On March 12, the woman was contacted by a FedEx manager saying the investigation was complete and that Beal would be returning as her manager on March 22. The woman’s doctor put her on disability leave and the woman resigned from FedEx on April 29, the same day Beal was charged with rape.
“This is a civil action in which we claim FedEx allowed this to happen and, when they found out, they did nothing about it,” Valentino said Friday.
Munoz said that the corporation’s attorneys had not yet seen the complaint.
Monetary damages are being sought in the complaint, Valentino said, and while she lost income because of leaving the FedEx job, the complaint is not asking for the woman to be reinstated. The complaint is also asking for emotional pain and suffering, Valentino said.
“We have not specified what that damage is yet,” Valentino said.
Valentino said that he did reach out to the company before filing the complaint.
“The response is that they wanted to stand behind Mr. Beal and his behavior,” Valentino said.
Munoz said that the corporation had answered a letter from Valentino with a letter asking him to contact the corporation’s attorney. Munoz said Valentino did not respond to the FedEx reply.