NEW YORK, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Franchisees of United Parcel Services today charged that UPS policies force them to take part in the distribution of pornographic materials, despite potential harm such products might pose for children and possible violation of state and local laws.
"We are very concerned that with the ever-growing market for pornographic videos, the accidental pickup of such materials by children could happen in a busy UPS franchise store," said Joseph Wightman, an official of the Platinum Shield Association (PSA). PSA, an organization of current and former Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) franchisees across the country, is presently involved in a lawsuit with UPS over alleged violations of franchisee agreements. MBE was acquired by UPS in 2001.
Wightman, whose store is in Manhattan, said a UPS service known as Alternative Delivery Location, part of the UPS Corporate Retail Solutions program, requires franchisees to deliver packages, often without specific information as to the contents, to UPS customers who are utilizing the alternate location service.
"As an example," Wightman noted, "if a package from a company called Zero Tolerance Entertainment -- and such a company does exist -- shipped a package containing pornographic videos to a customer in my area who wanted to use the UPS Alternative Delivery Location (ADL) program at my store, it could be possible that the person making the pickup was a child, especially when the stores get busy."
A colleague of Wightman's found Zero Tolerance Entertainment during a Web search of UPS-ADL approved shippers and made other PSA members aware of the potential conflict. "Without a franchisee's knowledge of what products various companies make, and since UPS policies contractually mandate their franchisees to deliver the package to whomever asks for it, we believe this UPS practice threatens both kids around the U.S. and, obviously, franchisees who might innocently violate state or local laws against distribution of these materials," Wightman said.
Wightman said his PSA colleagues intend to challenge UPS over forcing them to handle such materials and believes that one possible solution would be for UPS to provide franchisees posters listing the names of such shippers, with additional information on the types of products they are shipping via the UPS system.
