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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8211
The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today announced it has reached a $625,000
settlement with the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) resulting from an
investigation of discrimination against Hispanic workers in a 1995 layoff at
the Los Alamos, New Mexico facility.
The settlement is part of a consent decree which requires
Los Alamos to pay $625,000 in back pay to 98 Hispanic employees terminated
during a November 1995 reduction in force (RIF). The employees involved can
expect to receive between $3,841 and $15,521 each. In addition, the lab
reinstated 24 employees to comparable positions held prior to the RIF.
"I am pleased that we are able to provide this relief to
the Hispanic workers involved," said Shirley J. Wilcher, OFCCP Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Labor. "Equal employment opportunity is the law and we intend to
enforce that law fully, fairly and firmly."
The consent decree resolves a complaint of discrimination
filed by Hispanic workers based on national o1rigin that was identified in an
OFCCP investigation that began shortly after the Los Alamos RIF in November
1995. OFCCP enforces Executive Order 11246 and other federal laws requiring
federal contractors and subcontractors to guarantee equal employment
opportunity without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin,
disability or veteran status and to meet affirmative action obligations.
OFCCP made an initial finding that Los Alamos failed to
follow its own layoff criteria, which resulted in Hispanic employees being
terminated at a statistically significant higher rate. Rather than pursue this
claim through litigation, the parties have agreed to resolve the matter by
consent decree. Los Alamos is managed for the U. S. Department of Energy by the
University of California and is the major employer in North Central New Mexico.
The Laboratory has approximately 6,000 employees and a total operating budget
of more than $1 billion dollars. Los Alamos administers the science and
engineering of reducing the nation's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
"This case reflects OFCCP's ongoing commitment to protect
our nation's workers at all levels of the workforce and to ensure that federal
contractors comply with equal employment and affirmative action requirements,"
said Albert Padilla, regional director of the OFCCP office in Dallas. "When we
determine that workers are let go on the basis of race, gender, Hispanic
origin, or any other unlawful discriminatory criteria, OFCCP will step in to
rectify it."
The investigation at the Los Alamos Laboratory was
conducted by the OFCCP Albuquerque Area Office. The consent decree was
negotiated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Solicitor.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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