FedEx removes driver after Ring camera captures racial slur in Kansas City
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- FedEx driver was recorded using a racial slur while delivering to a Kansas City office.
- FedEx corporate and local management viewed the video and apologized to the victim.
- FedEx confirmed the driver is no longer employed after the incident was reported.
A Kansas City real estate broker said she was shocked after reviewing the footage from her doorbell camera, finding a recording of a FedEx driver using a racial slur while attempting to deliver a package to her office.
Shawnna Murrell said she had just returned to her office in the West Plaza after attending a Kansas City Planning Commission meeting when she noticed she had a missed Ring doorbell notification. It had been 13 minutes since the notification had come in.
Murrell said she opened the recording expecting to see the driver leaving a delivery notice, but instead heard him use a racial slur in front of the minority-owned business.
The video, which Murrell has since posted on social media, captured the driver standing outside her office Wednesday afternoon saying, “What the f— is this n—’s number?”
Murrell said she wanted to make sure that she heard what the FedEx driver said.
“I kind of stopped,” she said. “I was kind of taken aback. Like, ‘I know that’s not what he said.’”
Murrell played the video again.
“Sure enough,” she said. “I could hear it clean as day.”
Murrell said she wasn’t sure the comment had been directed at her at first. Her office shares a floor with other businesses, and delivery drivers often ring the wrong doorbell at the location, she said.
It wasn’t until she went to the door to see who the package was for that she noticed the envelope had been left outside the door.
“When I picked up the envelope and saw that it was a delivery for my office,” Murrell said. “I knew that obviously he had to be referring to our business when he said what he said.”
She described the experience as shocking.
“Even today, I’m still kind of speechless,” Murrell said.
FedEx officials reach out
Murrell said the first call came from a local FedEx manager, who told her he had seen the video after his girlfriend showed him the social media post.
The manager said he recognized the driver and reported the incident through the company’s chain of command before contacting her to apologize, she said.
Corporate officials reached out to Murrell later that day and apologized to her, informing her that the driver was no longer working for FedEx.
FedEx officials said they have taken what happened seriously.
“The behavior depicted in the video is unacceptable and inconsistent with our company values,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Murrell said she appreciated the company’s response to the incident, but hoped that the driver reflected on whatever led him to make the statement.
“I hope that he does realize the impact that he’s made not only on me as a stranger, but on the community and on his family,” Murrell said. “I hope he seeks to figure out what’s going on inside of him to help him be a better person.”
Murrell said she initially shared the video because she wanted people to understand that encounters like this can happen unexpectedly and why she tries to prepare herself mentally and spiritually every morning.
“Words have weight,” she said.
