The OEM has agreed to settle after “allegations of discrimination”.
Staffing Industry reported that the discrimination allegations were brought to notice by The US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programmes (OFCCP) who investigated HP after they discriminated “against qualified minorities” who had applied for jobs within the company between December 2008 and August 2010.
There were 504 qualified applicants of many different backgrounds and races and all were rejected. Although HP “denies liability” they have agreed to “pay back wages” with interest to those concerned which amounts to $750,000 (€669,150).
The company has also “agreed to place 33 of the applicants” into “inside sales representative positions” with backdated seniority which will be when places become available at the Conway, Ark site. HP were also told to take “extensive measures” to guarantee that its “personal practices” as well as record keeping, observe the law.
Patricia Shiu, Director of OFCCP, said “This settlement reflects a mutual commitment between the US Labor Department and Hewlett-Packard to ensure that all workers have a fair shot at competing for good jobs. Where hiring practices are barriers to equal opportunity, federal contractors have an obligation to break down those barriers and reform the process.”