International development company and federal contractor Chemonics International Inc. has agreed to pay $482,243 in back wages, interest and benefits to 124 African-American applicants. The agreement settles U.S. Department of Labor findings that the company discriminated on the basis of race in hiring for its professional entry-level program.

The company has entered into a conciliation agreement with the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to resolve this and several other identified violations of Executive Order 11246, including its failure to maintain required records and conduct internal audits.

During a scheduled compliance review, OFCCP investigators discovered that Chemonics utilized a hiring process that denied equal employment opportunity to qualified African-American applicants for professional positions that support the company’s international economic development projects. Of the 124 African Americans who applied to the company’s program for entry-level professionals during the review period, not a single one was hired.

In addition to paying the monetary settlement, the company, while denying liability, will hire eight of the applicants who were denied jobs, and has agreed to implement an auditing system to monitor all personnel activity and to preserve employment records required by law.

Chemonics International contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development to support economic development projects around the globe in areas such as education, health care, and agriculture.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. These laws, as amended, make it illegal for contractors and subcontractors doing business with the federal government to discriminate in employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. In addition, contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discriminating against applicants or employees because they have inquired about, discussed or disclosed their compensation or that of others, subject to certain limitations.