EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: US Giant Meat Processing Company Agrees to Settle $2.25 Million in Sex Discrimination Cases

September 20, 2011

 

Washington - Tyson Fresh Meats Inc, one of the world’s largest meat processing company and a federal contractor, has entered into two consent decrees with the US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to settle its four discrimination cases, an official statement released from its website said.

According to the statement, the company has to pay a total of $ 2.25 million in back wages, interest and benefits to more than 1,650 qualified female job applicants who were rejected foe employment in its Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa plants.

Secretary Hilda Solis said the settlement is one of the largest in OFCCP’s history. She also stressed that women who were unfairly denied job opportunities will be compensated.

During reviews of the four facilities, OFCCP determined that Tyson Fresh Meats had violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sex. Under the terms of the decrees, the $2.25 million settlement will be divided among the rejected female job applicants. The company has also agreed to offer jobs to at least 220 of the affected women as positions become available in Joslin, Waterloo and Denison in Ohio. The West Point plant closed in 2006.

Based on the agreement, the company has agreed to undertake extensive self-monitoring and corrective measures to ensure that its employment practices fully comply with the law.