Tag Archives: Teamsters

Action, Union, UPS

Nipomo Berry Farmer Battles UPS

NIPOMO, Calif. –

Randy Pudwill admits he lost faith in humanity for about six months. It all started when he tried to do the right thing.

“When I pulled up, I just went, what are you doin?” said Pudwill as he threw his arms in the air.

Pudwill remembers the day in April when he showed up at his Nipomo farm and saw a UPS truck stuck in a sand pit on his property.

“How he decided to drive down in there, we’re still confused about that,” said Pudwill shaking his head.

The driver wasn’t even there to deliver a package. He just made a wrong turn. Pudwill, who runs one of the largest berry farms in the area, did what any good neighbor would do he broke out the back hoe and towed the UPS truck out.

“I started backing him out, I told him, ‘don’t turn your steering wheel, don’t turn the wheel.’ And the first thing he did was turn the wheel, cause he wants to stay away from the building. he doesn’t want to hit the building, ” said Pudwill pointing to the side of a huge building on his farm.

When the UPS driver yanked the wheel, Pudwill said it caused the back hoe to go sideways and slam right into the side of his pickup truck.

“I’ve got this damage to my truck and I’m thinking later on, hey, at least they owe me for a tow,” said Pudwill.

Pudwill said the UPS driver gave him a number to call and left without saying thank you.

The damage to his truck came out to $5,000 and Pudwill had a $1,000 deductible through his insurance.

“I figure okay, you guys pay $500 and I’ll pay the other $500. They won’t even pay me for the stinkin’ tow,” said Pudwill.

He sent a bill to the UPS office in Santa Maria and Pudwill said they ignored him at first. Many phone calls and three months later, the insurance company representing UPS denied Pudwill’s claim saying he caused the crash and because the driver never asked to be towed.

That’s when Pudwill called the  NewsChannel Three Tipline for help.

“So when you started to hook him up to pull him out, he didn’t say, wait, wait, wait, no don’t touch this, I’ve got this taken care of?” asked C.J. Ward. “No.” said Pudwill. “So, he just expected you to haul him out of there?” said C.J. “Absolutely,” said Pudwill.

Pudwill said doing the neighborly thing always came naturally, now he’s jaded.

“And I do regret that. And I probably will be a lot slower to do that in the future because of this sadly, yes sadly,” said Pudwill.

NewsChannel called the UPS office in Santa Maria and was told no comment.  The woman on the phone even refused to put us in touch with a supervisor.

So we Googled UPS corporate and reached its headquarters in Atlanta. A UPS official there agreed to look into it.

A few days later, UPS called Pudwill apologized for how the situation was handled and sent him a check for $5,100.

“I appreciate everything, you really did save the day for me, and I’ve got some berries for you guys,” said Pudwill as he thanked NewsChannel Three.

Officials from the UPS Corporate Office in Atlanta sent this written statement to NewsChannel 3, “UPS appreciates what KEYT did to bring this issue to our attention. After our customer relations group investigated the situation it became clear that the gentleman who helped our driver deserved to be compensated for the damage to his vehicle. We thanked him for his help and made sure he was made whole.”

We would like thank UPS for resolving this matter, specifically Craig Poole and Dan McMackin for their assistance.

Union, UPS

UPS driver gets comp for heavy-lifting injury, but negligence claim denied

UPS Workers Compensation Case

A United Parcel Service Inc. delivery driver who received workers compensation for injuries caused by lifting a heavy box can’t pursue a negligence claim against the package’s sender, a California appellate court has ruled.

Stephen Moore began working for UPS in 1989 and regularly lifted heavy boxes using proper lifting techniques taught by his employer, according to court records. This included rolling heavy packages onto vehicles using hand trucks and requesting assistance from other UPS personnel to move packages weighing more than 70 pounds.

Though UPS requires customers to attach warning labels to packages weighing more than 70 pounds, court filings state that Mr. Moore encountered mislabeled packages at least once a week.

In January 2010, Mr. Moore collected boxes at a pickup area at William Jessup University in Rocklin, California, according to records. Mr. Moore attempted to use a hand truck to move the boxes because they had shipping labels stating that they each weighed 48 pounds.

While Mr. Moore had no trouble moving four boxes onto the hand truck, a fifth box caused him to feel pain in his wrist, shoulder and neck, records show. Based on his 20 years of work experience, Mr. Moore later estimated that the box weighed 70 to 80 pounds, despite the label saying it weighed 48 pounds.

Mr. Moore stated in court filings that he would have slid the heavier box onto his hand truck or asked for assistance if the box had been labeled correctly.

Mr. Moore received workers comp medical and indemnity benefits from UPS for his injuries, according to records. His medical condition was ultimately assessed as permanent, and he received a cumulative disability rating of 5%.

 Mr. Moore also sued William Jessup University for negligence, according to court filings. However, the university moved for summary judgment, saying it was not responsible for protecting Mr. Moore from injuries related to heavy boxes, since they were an inherent risk of his job.

The Placer County, California, Superior Court ruled in the university’s favor, and Mr. Moore appealed. He argued in filings that while his job included a risk of injury from lifting heavy packages, the university increased his risk of injury by failing to state the true weight of the box that injured him.

But a three-judge panel of the California Third District Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed the lower court ruling on Dec. 28. The appellate court found that “the risk of injury from lifting heavy boxes that may be labeled with inaccurate weight information was inherent in Moore’s job as a UPS delivery driver” and that the university did not have a duty to protect Mr. Moore from that harm.

The university “did not supervise Moore’s work in lifting or moving packages,” the ruling reads. “Injury from lifting heavy boxes that may be mislabeled by UPS customers was a risk inherent in Moore’s job. The University did not have a duty to protect Moore from injury that resulted from that risk.”

Corporate Greed, Union, UPS

Why You Should Pay Attention To The ‘Friedrichs’ Supreme Court Case

The Supreme Court has once again decided to reconsider “settled law.” This time it is a case involving the rights of public-employee unions to charge employees a fee for the services the unions are required by law to provide to all employees – even those who are not members of the union. The goal is to bankrupt the unions by denying them the funds necessary to perform the required services.

The argument is that since unions protect working people’s pay and rights, paying fees for union services therefore violates the “free speech” of those who support concentrated wealth and power.

This case is going to be argued before the Supreme Court on Monday.

Here’s why you need to pay attention.