The
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs has announced that Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc. has
agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 157
African-American and 375 Caucasian applicants for laborer positions at
the company's bacon processing plant in Vernon.
"The
Labor Department is committed to leveling the playing field for all
workers," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "A company that profits
from taxpayer dollars must not discriminate, period."
OFCCP
investigators found that African-American and Caucasian applicants were
less likely to be hired than similarly situated Hispanic applicants
over a two-year period.
Under the terms of the conciliation
agreement, Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats will pay a total of
$560,000 in back pay and interest to the 532 applicants. Additionally,
the company will make job offers to 59 of the 532 eligible class
members as laborer positions become available and revise the practices,
policies and procedures it uses to recruit, track and hire applicants
to fully comply with the law and immediately correct discriminatory
practices.
This agreement follows litigation by OFCCP
involving two other subsidiaries of Tyson Foods Inc. In 2008, a Labor
Department administrative law judge found that TNT Crust in Green Bay,
Wis., systematically discriminated against Hispanic applicants in its
hiring. In September 2010, OFCCP filed an administrative complaint
against a Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Joslin, Ill., for systematically
rejecting female applicants seeking entry-level positions.
OFCCP,
an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor, enforces Executive Order
11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam
Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 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.