The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas has agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve alleged discrimination against 6,123 Black applicants.
The center's conciliation agreement with the Labor Department, announced Oct. 21, stems from allegations that the center discriminated against Black applicants between Aug. 24, 2016, and Aug. 24, 2018.
As part of the agreement, the center will pay the $900,000 in back wages and interest, make 132 job offers to the affected job applicants, and provide training to managers, supervisors and other organization officials in the hiring process, according to the Labor Department.
"Federal contractors must ensure they are not engaging in discriminatory employment practices. Employers must ensure equal employment opportunities and nondiscrimination in hiring for all applicants," Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Director Ronald W. Sullivan II in Dallas, said in a department news release.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center shared the following statement with Becker's: "UT Southwestern has reached a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to resolve the agency's review of hiring practices impacting a small percentage of open positions from Aug. 24, 2016, to Aug. 24, 2018.
"This settlement prevents additional expense and business interruption resulting from the OFCCP's review of alleged statistical differences in hiring rates during the period that began eight years ago. UT Southwestern fully cooperated with OFCCP's audit requests and provided extensive data about thousands of applications and hires during the review period.
"Regrettably, given the volume of applicants, the time that has passed, and some data that could not be retrieved due to old systems that have since been updated, UT Southwestern was unable to comply with OFCCP's record-keeping expectations; however, there has been no finding of violation. UT Southwestern prides itself on being a diverse, supportive and welcoming community where employees and students come to learn, work and train. An equal opportunity employer, UT Southwestern remains committed to fair and objective recruitment and hiring processes. Available positions can be found at jobs.utsouthwestern.edu."
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has about 23,000 employees total.