The Home Depot agrees to pay $83K to women subjected
to gender discrimination at Southern California store

LOS ANGELES — For years, women at The Home Depot in Southern California store found themselves funneled into cashier jobs while their male coworkers landed higher-paying sales jobs. As a federal contractor, however, the company is obligated to offer equal opportunities to all job applicants and employees.

After action by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 46 women who applied for positions and were either not hired or placed into cashier positions instead of sales associate positions at the home improvement retailer's Pomona location will share $83,400 in compensation.

"This settlement demonstrates the U.S. Labor Department's determination to prevent workplace discrimination, especially by federal contractors," said OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu. "If you do business with the federal government, the law requires you to hire and promote people according to skills and experience, not gender."

OFCCP investigators examined personnel records and employment applications, interviewed rejected female job applicants and managers, and found that management at the Pomona store had routinely channeled or placed equally or more qualified females into cashier positions while male hires were put into sales associate positions with higher pay and promotion opportunities.

As part of the settlement, The Home Depot did not admit liability but agreed to hire or promote five women to sales associate positions.

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Home Depot has multiple federal contracts valued in excess of $2 million.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. As amended, these three laws require that contractors and subcontractors doing business with the federal government not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. For more information, please call OFCCP's toll-free helpline at 800-397-6251 or visit http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/.

OFCCP recently 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 one of the workers eligible for back pay or job opportunities from this settlement, or may know someone who is, please visit the OFCCP Class Member Locator http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/cml to learn more about your potential eligibility or to contact OFCCP.