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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 693-4657
The United States Department of Labor filed three lawsuits
today against the Boeing Company of Seattle, Washington, alleging that the
giant aerospace company has interfered with compliance reviews and
investigations into complaints of discrimination. The suits--filed with the
department's Office of Administrative Law Judges--charge that Boeing has
refused the DOL's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) access
to its facilities and records.
"I am committed to enforcing the nondiscrimination
obligations of federal contractors, and this situation is a clear example of
how the OFCCP must--and is entitled--to have reasonable access to the premises
and records of companies which benefit from doing business with the federal
government. Denying us that access cannot--and will not--be tolerated," U.S.
Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman said when announcing the lawsuit.
The complaints, signed by the Department's chief legal
officer, Solicitor of Labor Henry L. Solano, allege that Boeing denied OFCCP
access to its facilities and records at a commercial aircraft facility in
Seattle; commercial aircraft and military space and defense facilities in
Wichita, Kansas; and a training systems facility in Mesa, Arizona. The
department has requested that the Administrative Law Judges hear these cases on
an expedited basis.
The Arizona and Kansas facilities were scheduled for
routine compliance reviews. In Seattle, OFCCP was attempting to investigate a
class action complaint of race discrimination filed by an employee of the
facility. In April and May, Boeing notified OFCCP it would not permit the Mesa
review or the Seattle investigation to begin. It also refused to allow the
Wichita reviews, already in progress, to continue.
Boeing--the nation's second largest defense
contractor--received $11 billion in government contracts during fiscal year
1998 and employs 230,000 workers nationwide. As a federal contractor, it is
prohibited from discriminating against employees or applicants on the basis of
race, sex, religion, color, national origin, disability or veteran status.
OFCCP is the agency within the Department of Labor that
enforces the affirmative action and nondiscrimination requirements to which
federal contractors are subject (Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and portions of the Vietnam Era Veterans'
Readjustment Assistance Act). Contractors who interfere with OFCCP's activities
are subject to sanctions including debarment and contract cancellation.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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