An 86-year-old longtime FedEx worker, who was killed at the company’s hub in Memphis on November 30, was described as “a living, lasting memory” by her church while a lawyer representing her family also said her death was “preventable.”
According to ABC 24, the deceased woman, identified as Verna Mae Jackson, was killed when she tried to grab an envelope that was hanging out of a container, the lawyer for her family, Jeffrey Rosenblum said.
“Her family wants the community to know that she loved working for FedEx, and she loved the people that she worked with,” Rosenblum said, adding that the “safety precautions that could’ve protected her were not in place.”
“This was a completely preventable death,” Rosenblum said. The attorney also said a “driver” who was dragging a bundle of mail failed to properly honk to indicate the vehicle was driving away as Jackson tried to grab the envelope she saw hanging out of the container.
“There’s technology available that would allow the vehicle to make that sound, to warn, to alert that the vehicle is about to move before it moves an inch. And if we believe those precautions had been taken, if that equipment had been purchased or maybe it was there and not maintained appropriately, she wouldn’t be dead,” Rosenblum said.
FedEx in a statement said an investigation into the fatal accident has since been launched.
