by Art Gutman Ph.D., Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
The OFCCP announced a $167,000 settlement agreement in a sex discrimination claim with Gruma Corp, a corn flour and tortilla manufacturer (OFCCP v. Gruma Corp., DOL OALJ, No. 2009-OFC-0007, order 10/20/10). The text of the consent decree may be viewed here.
The decree follows a compliance review of Gruma Corp.'s Mission Foods facility in Commerce, Calif. The allegation was that the company discriminated against female applicants in hiring for packer and disco/palletizer positions between Oct. 1, 2004, and Oct. 31, 2005, in violation of Executive Order 11246. Gruma is headquartered in Irving, Texas. The award represents back pay and interest for a class of 1,106 female applicants. The decree also requires that Gruma offer up to 20 positions, as they become available, for qualified class members, and submit periodic progress reports to OFCCP for 24 months. These reports must include the amount of monetary benefits paid to class members and an applicant-and-hire flow log for packer and disco/palletizer positions. The flow logs must breakdown total number of applicants and hires by gender during the reporting period, and conduct a statistical analysis of that data to determine whether the selection process has an adverse impact on any protected groups. Furthermore, if there is any adverse impact, Gruma must report “any remedial actions taken.”
The decree specifies that there is no admission of guild by Gruma. Gruma noted that there were no complaints filed by any of the applicants, and that it “has always been in compliance with the OFCCP employee selection procedures by hiring appropriately and fairly”.
