Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. is ordered to pay $2.25 million in back wages, interest and benefits to more than 1,650 qualified female job applicants to settle sex discrimination allegations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

The women were rejected for employment at facilities in Joslin, Ill.; West Point, Neb.; and Waterloo and Denison, Iowa.

“Companies that profit from federal contracts must not discriminate in employment decisions,” says Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Today’s settlement, one of the largest in OFCCP’s history, means that women who were unfairly denied job opportunities will be compensated.” OFCCP found Tyson Fresh Meats had violated Executive Order 11246, which forbids federal contractors from discriminating based on sex, during the four facilities’ compliance reviews. The $2.25 million settlement will be divided among the women as required under the settlement terms.

Tyson Fresh Meats will offer jobs to at least 220 of the affected women once positions become open in Joslin, Waterloo and Denison. The West Point plant, however, shut down in 2006. Tyson Fresh Meats will also undergo self-monitoring and corrective measures to make sure its employment practices are in full compliance.

These settlements are resolutions of the latest lawsuits in multiple cases brought by OFCCP against subsidiaries of Tyson Foods Inc. A DOL administrative law judge ruled in 2008 that TNT Crust in Green Bay, Wis., had steadily discriminated against Latino applicants for entry-level positions. In 2010, OFCCP also settled a case against Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats after discovering the company had discriminated against 157 African-American and 375 Caucasian job seekers at the company’s bacon processing plant in Vernon, Texas.

“A year after filing suit, the Labor Department has made good on a promise to those job seekers who were denied the opportunity to work simply because they are women,” says OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “We will remain vigilant, particularly with a serial offender like Tyson, to protect the rights of workers who can and should expect basic fairness from a company that profits mightily from doing business with the federal government.”

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DOL: Tyson to pay $2.25 million in sex discrimination cases

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