Aramark Educational Services LLC in Lubbock, Texas, settles charges of gender and race discrimination with US Labor Department

DALLAS — Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Aramark Education Services LLC has entered into a conciliation agreement to resolve claims of systemic hiring discrimination. OFCCP found that the contractor discriminated against 335 male and African-American applicants for food service worker positions with Aramark, a federal contractor in Lubbock.

"There are no such things as 'women's work' and 'men's work.' There is only work, and federal contractors are well aware of their obligation to provide equal opportunities to all employees and job applicants," said OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu. "This settlement is a reminder that it is up to the employee or job applicant to decide which positions to pursue, whatever their reasons. A contractor may only evaluate whether or not an individual has the ability to do the job."

The agreement concludes an investigation from Aug. 16, 2008 through Aug. 16, 2010, by OFCCP that Aramark failed to comply with Executive Order 11246, which prohibits race and sex discrimination by federal contractors that do business with the government. Under the agreement, Aramark will pay $165,000 in back wages, interest, and benefits to the affected class members. The company, while not admitting liability, will also make 53 job offers to original applicants as positions become available. Finally, the company will review and revise its selection process and provide better training to its hiring managers to eliminate practices that result in gender and race stereotyping.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Aramark and its subsidiaries received more than $36 million in federal contracts during the course of the OFCCP investigation, to provide its services and products to multiple federal departments and agencies including the Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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 make it illegal for contractors and subcontractors doing business with the federal government to 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 (CML). 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 2008 and 2010, the period of the investigation, please visit our website at: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/CML/index.htm, where you can also find information about other recent OFCCP settlements.