CRITICS FAULT XPO ON WORKPLACE CLAIMS
Company denies reports of dangerous conditions
A year after the founder of XPO Logistics rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange to mark a commitment to diversity and inclusion, a New York Times article has sparked a backlash against the Greenwichbased company over claims by women in Tennessee that they had little choice but to work in dangerous conditions.
XPO has been among the fastest-growing companies in Connecticut, both via acquisitions and new hiring, reporting nearly 100,000 employees as of June. CEO Brad Jacobs created the company in Greenwich in 2011 to provide freight delivery services, primarily to businesses but also to homes for bulky items such kitchen appliances.
In an article in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, workers at an XPO warehouse in Memphis, Tenn., detailed allegations that managers ignored their requests to be given tasks that minimized heavy lifting, with multiple women attributing miscarriages to the job demands. The same warehouse had been the subject of prior sexual harassment complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prior to XPO acquiring the facility in 2014, where it prepares shipments on behalf of Verizon Communications.
XPO has emphatically denied the claims detailed by the New York Times and faulted the article for what a spokeswoman described as numerous inaccuracies. As of Tuesday, XPO had yet to address the report on its own website or social media outlets, with a number of activist groups and individuals taking to Twitter to criticize XPO and Verizon, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., whose tweet referenced the article to bring attention to the health of women workers.
Verizon attorneys have pressed XPO for “frequent and prompt updates” in the words of a letter to XPO last May, as cited by The Guardian.
In response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query, spokesperson Erin Kurtz forwarded a corporate statement attributed to no single individual, stating the company conducted its own review and determined the claims were unsubstantiated while blaming Teamsters organizers for attempting to discredit XPO as part of an effort to unionize the Memphis facility.
Kurtz indicated that managers and employees receive awareness training both when they are hired and on an ongoing basis.
“We have absolutely no tolerance for any type of discriminatory behavior,” the XPO statement reads. “We deeply care about all of our employees, and work with our pregnant employees and their supervisors to adjust work assignments and schedules. XPO has many different ways to report claims of workplace misconduct without fear of retaliation, including an anonymous hotline, that are available to all employees.”