OFCCP Resolves Discrimination Claims Against Compass Group USA, Inc.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) recently entered into a conciliation agreement with Compass Group USA to settle allegations that the foodservice and support services company discriminated against African American applicants for Service Worker positions at its Mobile, AL facility. The agency alleges the contractor’s selection process had an adverse impact on the hiring of African Americans in the Service Worker position, and African Americans were also held to a stricter standard than White applicants. The conciliation agreement states OFCCP made this determination using a logistic regression taking into account preferred qualifications, such as high school or GED and related experience.
OFCCP found 189 affected class members who are eligible for a total of $29,921.16 in back pay and interest. Additionally, as Service Worker positions become available, Compass Group USA must extend job offers to qualified class members until they hire eight, or until the list of class members who express interest is exhausted, whichever happens first.

The conciliation agreement also details violations of OFCCP recordkeeping and retention requirements, as well as, a failure to maintain and have available for inspection, records of personnel activity data to determine whether there were selection disparities. Compass Group USA agrees to identify, where possible, the race, gender, and ethnicity of applicants, and preserve personnel or employment records for all jobs in their Service Workers job group. This includes expressions of interest through the Internet or related data technologies, records related to internal and/or external databases, physical and online applications and resumes, testing materials, and interview records. Compass Group USA must retain these items for no less than two years from the item’s create date, or the personnel action involved, whichever occurs later.

Compass Group USA also agrees to submit two reports to OFCCP within one year of the effective date of the agreement. These reports have a variety of requirements, including a description of selection process revisions, applicant flow logs, and copies of impact ratio analyses. The main takeaway for contractors reviewing this conciliation agreement is OFCCP did not just allege Compass Group USA used selection processes that adversely impacted African American applicants to a statistically significant degree, but the preferred qualifications themselves held those applicants to a higher standard than their White counterparts. Contractors should examine their job qualifications, both required and preferred, and ensure that employees of a particular race or gender, are not held to higher standards than others and stay within OFCCP compliance.