Family of woman killed in FedEx World Hub accident wants answers about her death
By: Bria Bolden
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A Mid-South family is heartbroken and pleading for answers after 33-year-old Jessica James was killed in a forklift incident at FedEx World Hub early Friday morning.
James’ family is devastated by this loss. Her sister told Action News 5 she was sweet, hardworking, and the baby of the family.
“We are a very close family and this has just taken us,” said James’ sister, Kimberly Briggs. “It has taken us aback.”
James’ family is heartbroken and wants answers about what happened to her.
“It’s devastating to us,” said Briggs. “We lost our little sister. My mom and my dad, they lost the baby of the family. They lost a daughter, so it’s just very hard, very hard.”
Memphis police say James was killed on the job in a forklift accident at the FedEx World Hub around 2 a.m. Friday. Her family found out what happened when FedEx executives came to their front door.
“It was just basically straight to the point,” said Briggs. “No sentimental. It was just business, like they lost an employee and next. But we lost family. I lost my sister. My mother lost a child.”
We reached out to FedEx about James’ death. They sent Action News 5 this statement:
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of our team member. Our heartfelt thoughts are with our team member’s family, their colleagues, and all those affected by this event. We are fully cooperating with the investigating authorities.”
The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) had an investigator on-site Friday reviewing what led up to James’ death. James is the third FedEx World Hub employee to be killed on the job in the last five years.
James’ family says they want FedEx to do more to protect employees so this doesn’t happen to another family.
“People are dying,” said Briggs. “Dying. Families are losing their loved ones and FedEx is just going on like it’s nothing and that’s not okay. It’s definitely not okay. It’s definitely not okay for us and it’s definitely not okay for the other families. We definitely cannot just let this go.”
James’ family has hired attorney Jeff Rosenblum to represent them. He’s been an attorney for other families whose family members have been killed on the job at FedEx.
TOSHA’s investigation is expected to take between eight and 10 weeks.
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