From 'camel jockeys' to $82 million

-- A Superior Court jury awarded $US61 million ($82 million) to two FedEx drivers of Lebanese descent who claimed a manager harassed them with racial slurs for two years.

Edgar Rizkallah, 43, and Kamil Issa, 36, said in the discrimination lawsuit they were called "terrorists", "camel jockeys" and other epithets in 1999 and 2000 by Stacy Shoun, terminal manager for the Oakland FedEx Ground facility where the two men were contract drivers.

An Alameda County Superior Court jury on Friday awarded the men $US50 million in punitive damages, on top of $US11 million in compensatory damages the jury awarded them on May 24, a lawyer for the plaintiffs and a FedEx Ground spokesman said on Saturday.

The company plans to appeal. Spokesman Maury Lane said other managers testified that the harassment never happened, but he declined to discuss specifics of the case, citing ongoing litigation.

"The jury's verdict was wrong and excessive," Lane said. "The company has strong anti-discriminatory policies, and this is not tolerated." --