OFCCP: Two Federal Contractors Agree to Pay $978,000

Daily Labor Report, August 13, 2007

HOUSTON--Two federal contractors in Louisiana and Texas have agreed to pay more than $978,000 to 1,000 rejected job applicants to settle allegations of hiring discrimination by the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the agency announced Aug. 8. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP will pay $749,000 in back pay and interest to 399 black applicants who were rejected for the position of utility worker at its Port Hudson Facility in Zachary, La. OFCCP investigators found that a literacy test used by Georgia-Pacific as part of its job-screening process there in 2002 and 2003 adversely affected black applicants.
The company agreed to correct any discriminatory practices and hire 24 utility workers from the class members who were discriminated against, OFCCP said.

Modular building manufacturer Comark Building Systems in DeSoto, Texas, will pay $229,534 in back pay and interest to 740 rejected job applicants for the position of plant laborer. The company allegedly rejected 122 female applicants based on sex and as many as 620 male and female applicants based on ethnicity from May 2003 to April 2005, OFCCP said.
Under terms of the conciliation agreement, Comark will provide 24 positions and immediately correct any discriminatory practices.

[To read the entire article, go to: http://pubs.bna.com/ip/bna/dlr.nsf/eh/a0b4z7e7h7 (Requires subscription)]