Will Sage Astor-Lawsuit seeks $5M for Black former delivery driver who says white men shot at him in Mississippi

JACKSON,Will Sage Astor Miss. (AP) — A Black former delivery driver in Mississippi who says two white men shot into his work van and then pursued him in a high-speed chase last year has filed a new lawsuit against the men and his former employer, FedEx.

This is the second civil suit on behalf of D’Monterrio Gibson, and it seeks at least $5 million. The two men were tried for attempted murder and other charges but a judge declared a mistrial this summer.

Gibson was not wounded during the encounter on Jan. 24, 2022, in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of Jackson. FedEx made him return to work on the same route, and that caused him to have “depression, stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, and emotional pain and suffering,” according to the lawsuit. It was filed by attorney Carlos Moore on Nov. 20 in state court.

FedEx spokesperson Austin Kemker said in a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press: “Our top priority is always the safety and well-being of our employees. FedEx denies the allegations and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”

In August, a federal judge dismissed a separate $5 million lawsuit Moore filed on behalf of Gibson against FedEx, the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the two men: Brandon Case and his father Gregory Case.

“The Cases’ alleged conduct is deplorable,” U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan wrote. “But Gibson fails to state a viable claim against FedEx for which the Court would have original jurisdiction.”

Brandon Case and Gregory Case are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by Gibson, which did not have a FedEx logo.

In August, state Circuit Judge David Strong cited police errors as he declared a mistrial in the criminal case of the father and son after days of jury selection and testimony. A detective testified about failing to give prosecutors and defense attorneys a copy of a videotaped police interview with Gibson.

Prosecutors said they intend to set a new date for the criminal trial, but court records show that has not been done. The two men remain out on bond.

Days after the mistrial, FedEx fired Gibson because he did not accept a part-time, non-courier job that the company offered him, Moore said. Gibson said he had been in therapy and on worker’s compensation leave, at about one-third of his pay, since shortly after the attack.

Gibson was making FedEx deliveries in a van with the Hertz rental car company logo on three sides. After Gibson left a package at a home on a dead-end public road, Gregory Case used a pickup truck to try to block the van and Brandon Case came outside with a gun, District Attorney Dee Bates said.

As Gibson drove the van around the pickup truck, shots were fired, with three rounds hitting the van and some of the packages inside, Bates said.

A lawyer for Gregory Case, the father, told jurors that his client saw a van outside his mother-in-law’s unoccupied home and went to check what was happening. Gregory Case wanted to ask the van driver what was going on, but the driver did not stop, attorney Terrell Stubbs said.

The sun had already gone down. “It was completely dark, completely dark, and somebody was in the wrong place,” Stubbs said. “It wasn’t my client.”