The settlements resolved allegations uncovered by OFCCP during affirmative action audits of federal contractors. The purpose of the web page is to publicize these settlements and encourage affected individuals to come forward to claim their share of the money. Here are the highlights:
- AmeriQual Group LLC, a food processing company, will pay $325,532 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against 221 male applicants for entry-level production positions. It will also offer jobs to 27 of the affected applicants and provide at least two hours of equal employment opportunity training to those involved in hiring at its Evansville, Indiana, facility (consent decree signed 1/17/17).
- Apex Systems, LLC (Apex), a staffing firm, will pay $148,500 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against 82 black applicants for recruiter positions in Atlanta, Georgia. The company will also offer jobs to 6 of the affected applicants (conciliation agreement signed 12/21/16).
- Crossmatch Technologies, a biometric identity management solutions company, will pay $49,305.29 to resolve allegations that it paid 13 female technicians less than their male counterparts at its Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, headquarters. The audit was a corporate management review, which is specifically targeted to headquarters offices. The company will also adjust the workers’ pay and revise its compensation policies and procedures (conciliation agreement signed 1/5/17).
- The former and current owners of World Golf Village Resort Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, were both pulled into an affirmative action audit of the facility. The former owner, John Q. Hammons Hotels Management, LLC, will pay a total of $47,000 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against 75 female applicants for Banquet Set Up and Housekeeping Utility positions. The current owner, Atrium Hospitality LP, will offer jobs to 5 of the affected applicants as positions become available (conciliation agreement signed 1/27/17).
- Medline Industries Inc., which manufactures and distributes surgical and medical instruments, will pay $99,999.99 to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination. The OFCCP found that the company hired only women for line assembly positions and only men for packager positions at its facility in Waukegan, Illinois. The settlement fund will be shared by 44 male applicants and 53 female applicants. The company will also extend job offers to 2 of the men and 3 of the women (conciliation agreement signed 1/27/17).
- Splunk, Inc., a software company, will pay $2.7 million in back pay to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination at its San Francisco, California, facility. The OFCCP alleged that the company discriminated against 872 African American and Asian applicants who applied for Technical Professional, Senior Technical Professional, and Administrative Professional positions. The company agreed to hire 11 of the rejected applicants and to engage an independent expert (subject to OFCCP approval) to review and evaluate its hiring and recruitment practices (conciliation agreement signed 1/19/17).
- UniFirst Corporation, a workplace uniform and laundry services company, will pay $75,000 to resolve allegations that when hiring for production positions in Charlotte, North Carolina, it assigned women into the lower paying jobs, resulting in compensation discrimination against 17 women. At the same time, the OFCCP alleged that the company tended to favor hiring women over men in that same production job group, resulting in discrimination against 494 men. The company will pay an additional $116,505.76 to resolve that allegation. Job offers will be made to 7 of the affected women and 6 of the affected men (conciliation agreement signed 1/26/17).
These settlements highlight the importance of carefully reviewing affirmative action plan (AAP) data for potential disparate impacts. As a federal contractor, if you discover a concern, you should dig deeper to identify causes so you can attempt to resolve and correct the problem before the OFCCP comes knocking. Questions? Contact your Vigilant affirmative action representative. Or check out Vigilant's affirmative action services.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has updated its class member locator web page with more back pay settlements involving large numbers of applicants or employees.
