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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 693-4660
Forty-nine women will share $92,471 as part of an agreement
between Eagle-Picher Minerals, Inc., of Reno, Nev., and the U.S. Department of
Labor. The minerals company has signed an agreement which resolves allegations
that the company discriminated against women by failing to hire qualified women
in entry level laborer jobs at its Lovelock, Nev., operations.
"The pay gap between men and women will persist as long as
companies refuse to consider women equally," said Secretary of Labor Alexis M.
Herman. "I urge businesses to look at their hiring and compensation programs
and to ensure that qualified women are not excluded from jobs or promotions
because of their gender."
The settlement includes a total of $92,471 in back pay to
be divided equally among 49 women who applied for laborer jobs. The company
mines plankton, a chalk-like substance, from the soil and packs it for
shipping. Plankton is used in filters and has a number of other uses. The
company also agreed to make offers of employment to the women until at least 13
have been hired. The total value of the hires is $196,053 in annual salaries.
In addition, Eagle-Picher Minerals agreed to compensate the women who are hired
for retroactive seniority and lost benefits, valued at $70,333.
The charges resulted from a routine compliance review that
began last July. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that
the company, a federal contractor, had denied equal employment opportunity to
female applicants even though they had equal or greater qualifications than the
males who were offered jobs.
The review also found that female employees were subjected
to sexual harassment by their male co-workers. The company will train managers
and employees to prevent sexual harassment.
"We will not tolerate any form of discrimination or sexual
harassment in the workplace," said Bernard E. Anderson, assistant secretary for
employment standards. "Equal employment opportunity, non-discrimination and a
workplace free of harassment is the law and it just makes good business sense,
too."
Eagle-Picher Minerals is a subsidiary of Eagle-Picher
Industries, which has federal aerospace contracts with the Department of
Defense totaling nearly $2 million. The company's plankton surface mine in
Lovelock employs 150 people.
The Labor Department enforces Executive Order 11246 and
other laws that prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors. The
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs monitors federal contractors to
ensure that they provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race,
gender, color, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status and
comply with affirmative action requirements.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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