The former FedEx delivery driver who was chased and shot at by two white men in Brookhaven, Mississippi, has filed a $5 million lawsuit.
D’Monterrio Gibson — who is Black — was attacked while making his deliveries on Jan. 24, 2022, in a Hertz van.
As widely reported by the Mississippi Free Press and other outlets, Gregory Case and his son, Brandon Case, chased Gibson while he was delivering a package and fired several shots into the delivery van he was driving, hitting several packages in the process.
Gibson was not physically injured in the shooting. Still, according to the lawsuit filed on Nov. 20, he suffered from “depression, stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, and emotional pain and suffering” after FedEx forced him to return to the same route following the attack, this time in a FedEx truck. The company then fired Gibson after he tried to return to the same route but was unable to continue due to emotional distress.
The lawsuit was filed in state court against FedEx, the Cases, and their employer, Adcamp Inc., for civil assault and battery, negligent/intentional infliction of emotional distress, general/gross negligence, negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle and vicarious liability.
“Defendants Brandon and Gregory essentially terrorized, shot at, and chased Mr. Gibson out of the Junior Trial neighborhood of Lincoln County, Mississippi,” the claim reads. “Following the assault of Mr. Gibson, the Defendant, FedEx sent him back to work on the same dangerous route the following day, intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit also contends that Gregory Case used his Adcamp work truck to “chase and hunt down” Gibson after he’d delivered a package. According to the lawsuit, the men chased Gibson while waving a gun and blocking the road. Gibson drove around the men, who then began shooting at him.
Bullet holes were found “inside the back of the van and the packages from Defendant B. Case’s firearm,” says the lawsuit.
When Gibson felt safe, he contacted his supervisor and asked him to call the police, but the supervisor reportedly asked him to wait until the following day. Gibson did not wait and went to the Brookhaven Police Department to report the incident.
The Cases were tried for attempted murder but a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial in the criminal case, according to NBC News. The men justified their actions by claiming that it was dark, and they wanted to know why Gibson was outside Gregory’s Case’s mother-in-law’s house.
“It was completely dark, completely dark, and somebody was in the wrong place,” said Gregory Case’s attorney, Terrell Stubbs. “It wasn’t my client.”
FedEx spokesperson Austin Kemker released a statement saying they would fight the lawsuit.
“Our top priority is always the safety and well-being of our employees,” he claimed. “FedEx denies the allegations and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
FedEx gave Gibson two weeks off without pay and paid for eight therapy sessions after he began the company’s medical leave process on Jan. 26, 2022. FedEx reinstated one-third of his pay in February after pushback from the public. He was terminated after the mistrial when he declined a part-time position.
This is the second time a civil suit was filed on behalf of Gibson. The first was dismissed in August by a federal judge who ruled Gibson failed to state a “viable claim against FedEx for which the Court would have original jurisdiction.”
The Cases are still charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into a vehicle. However, prosecutors have yet to set a trial date, and the men remain out of jail on bond.
Gibson’s lawyer, Carlos Moore, told the Mississippi Free Press that he was seeking justice for his client, who had been denied that in a criminal court so far.
“Mr. Gibson has been through a great deal since he suffered the attack by the Cases in January of 2022,” said Moore. “They have still not been brought to justice in the criminal arena, but we are advancing his civil lawsuit in state court, and we expect to receive justice.”
