NYC was a crazy place in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. While many of us were grieving or in shock, others scrambled to make a quick buck (and/or get laid) off the tragedy. Within two days of the towers' collapse, for instance, you could buy T-shirts emblazoned with the words, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT OUT!" But it wasn't just souvenir hawkers cashing in on 9/11; a former employee of FedEx claims managers created a system to blame their late deliveries on beefed-up security measures at government buildings.
"They used 9-11 to profit," Mary Garofolo, the former employee, tells ABC. "And they did it for years." In a lawsuit she filed five years ago, she alleged that FedEx would brand packages with a code to indicate security delays even before they were loaded into the trucks for delivery. She claims they would then prioritize deliveries to private companies while also avoiding refunding the government for late fees. FedEx denies any wrongdoing, but yesterday it was announced that the company has agreed to an $8 million settlement with the Justice Department.
"We determined that it was in the best interest of the company to avoid a costly protracted legal battle with the government," says a FedEx spokesperson. "FedEx has worked hard to strike a balance between our customers' need for prompt deliveries and the government's need for the highest level of security. The government didn't identify one shipment where a security delay code had been applied and where there wasn't a security delay." But one of Garofolo's lawyers insists, "FedEx's practice was widespread. They saw an opportunity to keep using the [security] code in a way that allowed them to profit significantly."
