US Department of Labor, Virginia-based federal technology solutions contractor reach agreement to resolve alleged hiring discrimination

RESTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with a technology solutions provider to resolve alleged systemic hiring discrimination against Black applicants at the company’s Reston headquarters.

The agreement follows a routine investigation by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that alleges Intelligent Waves LLC discriminated against 14 Black applicants seeking positions in Arizona and Nevada as test instrumentation technicians. The company’s Reston location was responsible for filling these positions.

Executive Order 11246 prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.

In its settlement, Intelligent Waves has agreed to pay $435,368 in back pay and interest to affected job seekers and provide job offers to eligible class members. In addition, the company will take steps to analyze their selection and hiring practices proactively, conduct an internal analysis to prevent recurrence, and to evaluate its effectiveness.

“Our settlement with Intelligent Waves reflects our commitment to preventing hiring discrimination and holding federal contractors accountable when they fail to ensure equal employment opportunity,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Sam Maiden, in Philadelphia.

Intelligent Waves LLC provides technology solutions in cybersecurity, data science, enterprise network and systems engineering, software development and platform mission support. It has contracts with the U.S. Air Force, Department of Veterans Affairs, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

For more about OFCCP, call 800-397-6251 or visit the OFCCP website.

OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator. The purpose of the CML is to identify applicants and/or workers who have been impacted by OFCCP’s compliance evaluations and complaint investigations and who may be entitled to a portion of monetary relief and/or consideration for job placement. If you think you may be a class member who applied between Nov. 5, 2019, through Aug. 31, 2021, the period of the investigation, please visit the OFCCP website for information about this and other recent OFCCP settlements.