“Government contractors that choose to accept federal funds also agree to abide by laws and regulations aimed at preventing employment discrimination,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “When a government contractor, like Entergy, refuses to adhere to the obligations it accepted as a federal contractor, that refusal undermines the public trust that taxpayers expect in ensuring that public funding is used in a manner that complies with both federal law and agency regulations.”
“This issue has been litigated and re-litigated many times, and the courts have been clear: companies that profit from federal contracts must comply with our requests for proof that they are meeting their obligations,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “Entergy already earns more than $1 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts to provide services to the government. We shouldn’t have to spend more of those dollars taking them to court because they refuse to abide by the law. So, I urge Entergy Chairman and CEO Leo Denault to respect our nation’s hard-won civil rights laws.”
Entergy, as a federal contractor, is prohibited from discriminating against employees and job applicants because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. The company is also required to take affirmative action to employ qualified women, minorities, people with disabilities and protected veterans. To determine compliance with those affirmative action and non-discrimination requirements, government contractors, including Entergy, are required to develop and maintain written affirmative action programs, retain personnel and employment records, and provide OFCCP access to those documents during compliance reviews or investigations. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction requiring Entergy to comply with its obligations, including its obligation to produce documents requested by OFCCP within 30 days of the request.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, alleges that since May 2012, Entergy has refused OFCCP’s repeated requests to turn over its written affirmative action programs and other records requested as part of the routine compliance review of 11 Entergy locations in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
The Department of Labor referred this matter to the Department of Justice when Entergy refused to submit the documents requested by OFCCP even after receiving notices to show cause why enforcement proceedings should not be initiated.
Source: DOJ
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
