Racist Hiring Practices Reprimanded

Have you ever recommended a job candidate and suspected that racism was the reason that the applicant was not offered the job?

Proving such discrimination is another story.  It often takes years to prove that a company has systematically practiced discrimination in its hiring practices.  When the government identifies and condemns such behavior, one can be certain that hundreds of hours of documentation are behind the case.

It is a particularly critical incident when institutionalized racism is happening in an organization that is receiving federal funds.  This week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced its resolution with InterCall, a company that had  a $1.7 million contract to provide software, telecommunication support and recording services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that 103 black, 28 Asian and 20 Hispanic job applicants were systemically rejected for sales associate positions at the company’s Chicago offices in 2006 and 2007.

The government has mandated that Federal contractor InterCall will pay $700,000 in back wages, interest and benefits to 151 minority job applicants who were subjected to discrimination by the company.  In addition to financial compensation, InterCall will extend a total of 14 offers of employment to affected applicants as positions become available.

“I’m pleased that we were able to work out a fair resolution on this case,” said OFCCP Midwest Regional Director Sandra S. Zeigler. “Companies that do business with our government have a responsibility to ensure that their workplaces are safe, fair and diverse. Going forward, we expect that will be true at InterCall.”