A recent administration ruling involving an Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) investigation into Oracle may result in greater transparency around the agency’s actions when investigating discrimination claims.
The OFCCP filed a complaint against Oracle in January claiming that it had a systemic practice of paying Caucasian male workers more than their counterparts in the same job title, leading to pay discrimination against female, African American and Asian employees at its California headquarters. The suit also challenged that Oracle has a systemic practice of favoring Asian workers in its recruiting and hiring practices for product development and other technical roles, which resulted in hiring discrimination against non-Asian applicants.
The ruling issued by the Administrative Law Judge assigned to the proceeding requires OFCCP to provide information requested by Oracle to support specific allegations made by the federal agency.
The case is currently set for hearing in San Francisco on June 26, 2018.
The implications of the decision may be significant. In the past, OFFCP had avoided providing specific details on how it determined if federal contractors were failing to comply with workplace affirmative action and laws designed to prevent workplace and pay discrimination.
According to Bloomberg Law, a DOL spokesperson had said that the agency “is aware that there is a strong desire for consistency and increased transparency in compliance evaluations” and that both “can reduce the amount of time that it takes to resolve cases, and the number of cases that end up in litigation.”
It will be interesting to see how and if this Administrative Law Judge decision will play a role in any of the other OFFCP administrative actions currently in play over pay discrimination issues.
To learn more about achieving pay equity, click here.
Related Posts
