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By Tamara Treichel
DULLES, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that federal construction contractor M.C. Dean Inc. has settled allegations that it failed to provide equal employment opportunity to minority groups, including Asian Americans.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, 381 Asian American, African American and Hispanic workers who applied for jobs at the company’s Dulles headquarters were discriminated against. A review by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has found that M.C. Dean used a set of selection procedures which kept qualified minority candidates from being hired as electricians or apprentices.
“Our nation was built on the principles of fair play and equal opportunity, and artificial barriers that keep workers from securing good jobs violate those principles,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu in a press release issued by the Department of Labor.
Ms. Shiu, who is half of Chinese descent herself, specialized in employment discrimination while working as an attorney. “I am pleased that this settlement will provide remedies to the affected workers and that M.C. Dean has agreed to invest significant resources to improve its hiring practices so that this never happens again.”
According to the agreement, M.C. Dean will pay $875,000 in back wages and interest to the 381 minority applicants who were denied employment in 2010. Among those applicants are 11 Asian Americans. The construction contractor will also extend 39 job offers to the class members as opportunities become available, the press release from the Department of Labor said.
Also, the press release said that M.C. Dean has pledged to implement personnel training and extensive self-monitoring measures to ensure that all of its employment practices fully comply with Executive Order 11246. This order prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating on the bases of race, color and national origin in hiring.
In a press release from Oct. 30, 2013, M.C. Dean defended its position by saying its human resources statistics “reflect unsurpassed commitment and success in local workforce development and affirmative action” and outlined the measures it took that demonstrate its commitment to minorities, women and disadvantaged persons.
“Despite this unequalled commitment, over the past three years the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has invested significant resources in initiating multiple investigations of M.C. Dean hiring practices for Apprentices and Electricians over an extended period of time. The investigation included no fewer than seven data requests over 33 months, with over 14 compliance officers participating and ultimately resulted in a conciliation agreement.”
“The agreement does not include an admission of any violation of any Executive Order or Act. Further, the agreement’s focus on employment tests and candidate selection procedures for Apprentices and Electricians does not indicate any of those tests or procedures were discriminatory, nor any other discriminatory acts were committed by M.C. Dean, nor any specific persons were discriminated against,” the press release said.
When Asian Fortune twice asked M.C. Dean to supply further comment in response to the Department of Labor’s press release, it received no response.
M.C. Dean is a construction, design-build and systems integration corporation with over 30 offices worldwide. It has secured over $600 million in contracts with federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, since 2006.
