WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced a total of $9,721,837 in continued funding for organizations managing consortia that develop models, provide technical assistance and share best practices to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge Linda S. Chapman has ordered Bank of America Corp. to pay 1,147 African American job applicants $ 2,181,593 in back wages and interest for race-based hiring discrimination at the company's Charlotte facility. In an earlier ruling, the judge determined that the bank applied unfair and inconsistent selection criteria resulting in the rejection of qualified African American applicants for teller and entry-level clerical and administrative positions.

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has resolved claims of pay discrimination affecting 78 Hispanic workers employed at the Medtronic Interventional Vascular Inc. manufacturing facility in Danvers, Mass.

New York and Massachusetts awarded grants to improve employment outcomes for formerly incarcerated individuals

Date of Action: Sept. 17, 2013

Type of Action: Complaint, Consent Order and Judgment

Names of Defendants: David Fisher, Fisher & Partners Structural Engineers, Inc., and Fisher & Partners Structural Engineers, Inc. SIMPLE IRA Plan located in Chicago, Ill.

WASHINGTON — An open meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, will take place Monday, Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20210, Room 4 C5521.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending September 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 309,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 294,000. The 4-week moving average was 314,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 321,750.

Date of Action: Sept. 16, 2013

Name(s) of Defendant(s): John J. Koresko V, et al.

Date of Action: Sept. 17, 2013

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Rodger D. Ferguson, Industrial Surfacing Corp., Industrial Surfacing Corp. 401(k) Plan

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that it submitted a settlement between MSHA and Agapito Associates Inc. in the August 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.

Grants are third installment of nearly $2 billion community college initiative

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced new guidance interpreting the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor. In a technical release, the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration provides guidance to plans, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, participants and beneficiaries on the decision's impact on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

WASHINGTON — Fulfilling a promise by President Obama to ensure that direct care workers receive a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule today extending the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage and overtime protections to most of the nation's workers who provide essential home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries or disabilities.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today awarded $10.1 million through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program to 70 nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations; employer associations; labor unions; joint labor and management associations; and colleges and universities.

Agriculture industry records highest fatality rates of any industry

WASHINGTON — The agriculture sector accounted for 475 deaths in 2012. With a fatality rate of 21.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, agriculture recorded the highest fatality rate of any industry sector. Additionally, 48,300 injuries were recorded in 2011, the last year for which statistics are available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This sector employs more than 2 million people in the United States.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $4,131,089 National Emergency Grant to provide re-employment assistance to approximately 1,120 workers affected by layoffs at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending September 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 292,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 323,000. The 4-week moving average was 321,250, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 328,750.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Taylor's Drain and Sewer Service has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 10 safety violations, including two willful. OSHA found that the company failed to protect workers from cave-ins during trenching operations at two separate jobs sites in Lincoln, leading to a worker suffering a serious injury. OSHA has proposed penalties of $194,000.

SEATTLE — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced today that it has entered into a conciliation agreement to resolve allegations of sex discrimination by federal contractor, ResCare HomeCare Spokane. OFCCP investigators determined that ResCare's selection process violated Executive Order 11246 because it led to systemic hiring discrimination affecting men who applied for in-home care positions between June 2009 and May 2010.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today applauded an Aug. 26, 2013, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The court held that an MSHA district manager has broad discretion to disapprove a mine operator's proposed ventilation plan for an underground coal mine, and may do so as long as the decision is not arbitrary and capricious.