A.M. Executive Briefing - Mar. 20
This Morning's Headlines:
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Impaired Driver to Get Second Chance for Medical Waiver
U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith Friday overturned the Transportation Department's decision not to grant a vision waiver to Jerry W. Parker, an Ohio truck driver with one arm and limited vision in one eye. He operates intrastate and has gone more than 1.2 million miles without an incident in 15 years as a trucker.Beckwith said the department must develop a means of using individual ability to gauge driving skill. The department had argued that it was unable to judge whether safety would be threatened by granting the waiver because it lacks driving-performance data for people who have multiple disabilities. Heavy Duty Trucking Online (03/20/00) ; Smith, Patricia
FedEx Faces Lawsuit Citing Religious Bias Against an Ex-Driver
FedEx has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was acting on behalf of former delivery driver Khaleed Abdul-Azeez; the lawsuit contends that the driver's religious rights were violated by FedEx when it fired him for not shaving his beard.Abdul-Azeez said his Islamic faith mandates that he wear a beard, but the lawsuit claims FedEx refused to consider that factor with regard to its policy banning beards on employees who make customer contact. A month after he was hired in November 1998, the company put him on unpaid administrative leave and told him to get a position at the company with no customer contact; he did not do so and was fired last March. Wall Street Journal (03/20/00) P. B17
Sysco Buys FreshPoint Holdings
Sysco has completed its purchase of Dallas-based food-service and produce distribution company FreshPoint Holdings; the purchase price was not disclosed. Wall Street Journal (03/20/00) P. A10Ryan Asks U.S. to Help Revoke Fraudulent Licenses
Illinois Gov. George Ryan wrote to Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater Friday requesting the help of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in identifying truck drivers around the United States who might have received CDLs in Illinois through bribery and help in revoking their licenses on an "emergency basis" if needed.Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White wrote to 35 more states about the bribery scam in Illinois; he notified 14 states last week of truck drivers who might have received Illinois CDLs through the scams then swapped them for other states' CDLs. Chicago Tribune (03/18/00) P. 1; Long, Ray; Cohen, Laurie
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