Benefits August 11, 2005

Whirlpool Reaches Settlement On Discrimination Claims

August 11, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Whirlpool Corp. has agreed to a settlement on claims that a test it used in its hiring process discriminated against about 800 African-American applicants.
Reported by

In the settlement, Whirlpool will pay $850,000 in back wages and will hire 48 of the rejected applicants, the Department of Labor reports, according to HR.BLR.com. Whirlpool denies any wrongdoing.

During a routine compliance evaluation, the DoL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs determined that the Test of Adult Basic Education the company used in its process of hiring entry level assembler positions at a Tulsa facility disproportionately eliminated African-American applicants.

The DoL claimed that the company, which has contracts with the federal government, engaged in hiring discrimination from March 1, 1997 to February 28, 1998.

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