SAN FRANCISCO, California — A federal judge has certified a class action lawsuit alleging that FedEx Corp. discriminated against minority workers.

The suit was filed in 2003 by eight current and former employees. It seeks millions of dollars in damages and an end to the company’s alleged discriminatory practices.

The class action case, certified Wednesday, includes an estimated 10,000 current and former hourly workers and about 1,000 low-level management employees in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and parts of Texas.

The suit contends the delivery service paid thousands of current and former minority employees less than their white counterparts, passed over them for promotions and gave minorities poor work evaluations.

James Finberg, an attorney representing the class, said FedEx normally promotes from within, yet three times the number of package handlers and loaders are minorities compared to drivers, who earn more. Twice the number of minorities fail promotional tests than do whites, Finberg added.

“FedEx knows that black and Hispanics fail at a much higher rate, but yet has not changed the test,” Finberg said.

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