Ball Container LLC, a subsidiary of Ball Corp., has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to settle hiring discrimination allegations. The investigation began after the DOL’s Federal Contract Compliance Programs was conducting a routine compliance review and discovered that from February 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021, Ball Container discriminated against 192 Black applicants for production technician positions at the Rome, Georgia, facility. These actions violated Executive Order 11246, which “prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.”
As part of the agreement, Ball Container will pay $309,000 in back wages and interest to resolve the issue. Additionally, the company will:
- Provide four job offers to eligible class members when positions become available
- Review and revise its hiring process
- Provide training to all managers, supervisors and other company officials involved in the hiring process
What people are saying
In a recent quote, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Director Michele Hodge said, “Discrimination is preventable when employers have nondiscriminatory hiring procedures in place and see to it that they are followed. OFCCP will use every action available by law to ensure workers and job seekers are treated fairly, and that everyone has access to good paying jobs.”
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Southeast Regional Director Diana Sen added, “Federal contractors that fail to give equal consideration to all applicants – regardless of gender, race or ethnicity – violate the law. There is no gray area for federal contractors, as regulations require them to ensure equal opportunity for all workers and compliance with federal employment laws.”
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