OFCCP Announces ERCA with Significant Back Pay

This week, the Dallas, Texas office of Southwest and Rocky Mountain region of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) entered into an Early Resolution Conciliation Agreement with Microsoft Corporation to resolve ten open reviews at establishments in Texas, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, and Florida.

OFCCP alleges that Microsoft engaged in hiring discrimination at four of its reviewed establishments, specifically Texas, Washington, New York, and Massachusetts. The agency alleges Asian applicants were discriminated in Premier Field Engineer, Sales Representative/Account Executive, and Developer positions, and Hispanic and Black applicants were discriminated against in entry-level Software Engineering positions.

To resolve its open reviews with the OFCCP, Microsoft is entering into a monetary settlement with eligible applicants in the job groups described, revising its hiring practices, conducting pay equity analyses with a methodology agreed upon by both Microsoft and OFCCP, and submitting progress reports to OFCCP.

For its monetary settlement, Microsoft is required to pay $3,000,000 to 1,229 eligible applicants at the four establishments. This settlement represents $2,550,000 in back pay and $450,000 in interest. Microsoft is required to submit two reports to the OFCCP documenting the total number of applicants broken down by race/ethnicity and gender for the four job groups where discrimination was alleged, with the reports due at the end of January 2023 and January 2025.