Perdue Farms Inc., accused of discriminating against non-Hispanic job applicants, has agreed to pay out more than $800,000 to people the company discriminated against in its hiring process.
It’s the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that found the company failed to comply with federal employment laws at its poultry processing plants in Dillon, Rockingham, N.C., and Monterey, Tenn.
About $127,000 is allocated by the agreement to the Dillon plant, and a maximum of 145 people could be hired.
“OFCCP is committed to ensuring that Americans are hired, promoted and compensated fairly,” Charles E. James Sr., OFCCP’s deputy assistant secretary, said in a press release, “(with the goal of) protecting individuals from discrimination by federal contractors and subcontractors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and protected veteran status.”
In 2005 and 2006, the OFCCP conducted compliance evaluations at the three plants. Based on its statistical analyses, it found the company discriminated against certain female and minority job applicants for production positions.
Perdue officials denied OFCCP’s allegations, stating that it felt many applicants were unqualified for employment or withdrew from consideration for employment. Perdue’s desire to avoid protracted litigation with OFCCP regarding the issues involving the selection of production employees led the company to negotiate a favorable settlement with OFCCP.
“Perdue is committed to treating all job applicants fairly,” said Rob Heflin, vice president of human resources for Perdue Foods, in a press release. “We regret we did not more carefully document our hiring process for production associates, which led to these concerns by the OFCCP and, ultimately, to this settlement.
“Perdue has strict workplace fairness policies and regularly-audited procedures to assure they are being followed.”
Perdue has agreed not only to pay more than $800,000 to 750 women and minorities who were not hired during the time periods at issue, but it also will be making employment offers to some of those people who still are interested in working for the company.
As part of the settlement, Perdue will undertake extensive self-monitoring measures to ensure all hiring practices fully comply with the law for two years and immediately correct any discriminatory practices.
The company also has to be in compliance with the Department of Labor’s Equal Employment Opportunity Executive Order 11246 concerning record-keeping requirements.
“This settlement should put all federal contractors on notice that the Labor Department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination,” James said. “We strongly encourage other employers to take proactive steps to come into compliance with the law.”
OFCCP has jurisdiction regarding the issue because Perdue Farms has a federal contract to supply poultry to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On the Web
Perdue Farms Inc.: www.perdue.com
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs: www.dol.gov
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