Pilgrim's Pride pays $1 million to settle dispute

Dailysentinel.com
Discrimination allegations
Pilgrim's Pride pays $1 million to settle dispute
By TYESHA BOUDREAUX
Sentinel staff
Friday, October 05, 2007

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has agreed to pay $1 million to approximately 5,400 applicants and offer employment to those individuals still interested in working for the company, in order to resolve a dispute that alleged the company engaged in "hiring discrimination" for entry-level positions based on gender and ethnicity over a two-year period at the Nacogdoches and Dallas plants.
Although Pilgrim's Pride officials deny that the company discriminated against any individual job applicant, the company agreed to the settlement in order to "avoid the costs and time associated with litigation," according to a statement issued by Pilgrim's Pride Corp.
The consent decree was signed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Pilgrim's Pride Corp.
In 2006, the OFCCP initiated compliance evaluations of hiring activity at the Nacogdoches and Dallas Pilgrim's Pride Corp. plants, the statement said. Based on statistical analyses, the OFCCP alleged the company discriminated against certain applicants for entry-level production jobs from Jan. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2006.
OFCCP investigators found that the company engaged in hiring discrimination against females based on gender and males based on ethnicity, according to a news release issued by the OFCCP.
More than 800 applicants rejected by the Nacogdoches facility will receive $225,000 in back pay and interest, and the company will hire more than 101 unskilled laborers from the class members, the release said. Pilgrim's Pride will pay more than 4,500 applicants rejected by the Dallas facility $775,000 in back pay and interest, and will hire 361 unskilled laborers from the rejected applicant group.
Charles James Sr., OFCCP deputy assistant secretary, said the labor department is committed to ensuring that people seeking employment with federal contractors and subcontractors are hired, promoted and compensated fairly, without regard to their race, sex, ethnicity, disability, religion or veteran status.
At the time of the investigation, Pilgrim's Pride Corp. had a federal contract with the government.
"This settlement of $1 million on behalf of more than 5,300 applicants should put all federal contractors on notice that the department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination," James said.
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. denies that it in any way acted unlawfully or unfairly in selecting individuals for laborer positions, noting there were legitimate non-discriminatory reasons why the applicants were not hired, the statement said.


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