‘Messed With the Wrong Ones’: White FedEx Driver Fired After Ring Camera Catches Him Hurling Racial Slur at Black-Owned Kansas City Business
A white FedEx driver is out of a job after he was caught on camera saying a racial slur while delivering a package to a Black-owned business in Kansas City.
FedEx confirmed to Atlanta Black Star on Thursday that the man is no longer with the company.
Shawnna Murrell is the founder of Murrell Homes Real Estate Group. She told the Kansas City Defender she was following her usual routine on July 14 when the driver arrived.
But when he pressed the doorbell, no one answered. That’s when the Ring camera turned on and caught his frustration.
“What the f—k is this n—– number?” he said in the video.
The driver was reportedly delivering a check from a title company, payment for a transaction one of Murrell’s agents had just closed.
She said she didn’t see the video until about 15 minutes after the driver left.
“When it started playing, and I heard those things, it kind of took me back,” Murrell told The Defender. “I was like, did I just hear what I thought I heard? So, I played it again.”
Murrell said she also played it for some of her colleagues to reaffirm what she thought she heard.
“It shocked us all,” she said.
Murrell noted that the delivery the man was carrying bore her company’s name.
“When I saw that it was our name, so clearly he was talking about my company,” she said. “After that, when I determined, OK, you were coming for me, then that’s when the anger came in. That was not necessary.”
She told The Defender that a detail that stays with her is that the driver pressed the doorbell button.
“He clearly pushed a button to start the recording,” she said. “I guess he wasn’t thinking that that was going to pick up.”
Murrell said she plans to file a formal report.
‘Good, Luck Buddy’
Many people on Instagram jumped to Murrell’s defense, agreeing the verbiage was out of line.
“This is the same FedEx driver that called me darling today. I work on the plaza, and he’s our regular driver. He won’t be delivering at our office any longer,” @msjen_renee commented.
“Ohhhh, they messed with the wrong ones!!! Good luck, buddy,” @rodriguezracquel added.
“FedEx is one of the few companies that does not play with these games,” @ereemose1973 said.
“Somebody better be out of a job,” @suggswriter wrote.
Zero-Tolerance Policy
This isn’t the first instance of racial incidents involving drivers FedEx has had to deal with.
In 2023, a California worker was fired after telling a Spanish-speaking content creator to “go back to your country.” FedEx publicly stated that the behavior was “unacceptable.”
FedEx enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, according to the company website.
“There needs to be accountability,” Murrell told The Defender. “I never want anyone to lose their job. But that’s a grown man. He has to be accountable for his actions. If that’s the policy, if that’s the rules and regulations, then he made his bed. So now he got to lay in it.”
A FedEx spokesperson sent Atlanta Black Star the following statement:
“The behavior depicted in the video is unacceptable and inconsistent with our company values. We have taken this matter seriously and can confirm this individual is no longer providing service on behalf of FedEx.“
The driver has not been identified.