SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 7, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- Lawyers for approximately 25,000
FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers filed motions, supported by a massive
record containing 10,616 pages, for summary judgment in the pivotal, class-
action challenge to the company's embattled independent contractor model. In a
related development, the Court directed that notice of the litigation be sent
to all class members without injecting any corporate spin.

The motions, which follow two years of discovery and more than 300
depositions, including that of former FedEx Ground/Home Delivery Founder and
CEO Daniel Sullivan, assert that there is incontrovertible evidence showing
that the drivers are clearly company employees, not independent contractors,
according to Lynn Rossman Faris, co-lead counsel from the California-based
firm of Leonard Carder.

In summarizing the filing, she said that FedEx cannot re-litigate the
employment status of its drivers after losing the issue in the landmark
California Estrada trial, and that the company clearly treated its drivers
like employees. "FedEx controls what the drivers drive, what they wear, how
they deliver packages, how they act with customers, how much work they perform
in a day and when and where they perform it," explains Faris. "The factual
record is extraordinary in this case because FedEx's actions are so blatant."

The plaintiffs filed for summary judgment regarding employment status in
the nationwide ERISA class and in the certified-class-action states of
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland,
Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Class Notice Order was entered April 25, 2007, by U.S. Magistrate
Christopher A. Nuechterlein of the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend
Division. He rejected the company's arguments to change the Notice and
reminded them that the notice is "not meant to protect the rights of the
defendants." The Notice prohibits FedEx from "asking or telling you (the
drivers) to exclude yourself from this action, or even from expressing an
opinion as to whether it is or is not in your best interest to remain a class
member or exclude yourself from this action," and further bars "retaliation"
for participating in the case.

"We can now ensure that every member of the class is notified of this
crucial litigation and that they can freely make up their own minds about
their participation," said Faris. The lawsuits allege that by misclassifying
the drivers, FedEx deprived them collectively of hundreds of millions of
dollars in lost wages, benefits and expenses.

SOURCE Leonard Carder, LLP

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