Leading Food Producer Agrees to Pay More Than 5,300 Applicants $1 Million for Hiring Discrimination Based on Gender and Ethnicity

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today announced that a leading food production company, headquartered in Pittsburg, TX, has entered into two consent decrees to settle the department's allegations that the company engaged in hiring discrimination based on gender and ethnicity over a two-year period against some 5,300 applicants.

"The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that people seeking employment with federal contractors and subcontractors are hired, promoted and compensated fairly, without regard to their race, sex, ethnicity, disability, religion or veteran status," said OFCCP Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles E. James Sr. "This settlement of $1 million on behalf of more than 5,300 applicants should put all federal contractors on notice that the department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination."

 

In separate compliance evaluations of the company’s facilities in Dallas and Nacogdoches, Texas, OFCCP investigators found that the company engaged in hiring discrimination against females based on gender and males based on ethnicity. Under the terms of the consent decrees, filed with the Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law Judges, the company will pay more than 4,500 applicants rejected by the Dallas facility $775,000 in back pay and interest, and will hire 361 unskilled laborers from the rejected applicant group. More than 800 applicants rejected by the Nacogdoches facility will receive $225,000 in back pay and interest, and the company will hire more than 101 unskilled laborers from the class members.

OFCCP, an agency of the Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration, enforces Executive Order 11246 and other laws that prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors. The agency monitors federal contractors to ensure that they provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status.

For more information on fair hiring practices, or how to protect your company against potential liability, please contact Berkshire Associates Inc. at 800.882.8904 or email bai@berkshireassociates.com.