University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center will pay $900K in back wages, interest to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring discrimination

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have entered into a conciliation agreement in which the federal contractor will pay $900,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring affecting 6,123 Black applicants at the center’s Dallas facility.

A routine compliance evaluation by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found the research hospital’s hiring practices allegedly discriminated against Black applicants from Aug. 24, 2016, through Aug. 24, 2018, in violation of Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. 

In addition to the back wages and interest, UT’s Southwest Medical Center will make 132 job offers to the affected job applicants and ensure its hiring policies and procedures do not discriminate. The facility will also provide training to all managers, supervisors and other company officials in the hiring process. 

“Federal contractors must ensure they are not engaging in discriminatory employment practices. Employers must ensure equal employment opportunities and nondiscrimination in hiring for all applicants,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Director Ronald W. Sullivan II in Dallas.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center employs about 23,000 people and provides medical education, scientific training and clinical care. It currently has contracts to provide services to the Department of Veterans Affairs and has held more than $90 million in federal contracts since 2013.

OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator 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. 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. Together, these laws prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors.