News Release: Fort Myer Construction will pay $900K to settle discrimination and harassment case involving 371 women and minorities

OFCCP News Release: [09/17/2014]
Contact Name: Laura McGinnis or Michael Trupo
Phone Number: (202) 693-4653 or x6588
Email: McGinnis.Laura.K@dol.gov or Trupo.Michael@dol.gov
Release Number: 14-1513-PHI

Fort Myer Construction will pay $900K to settle discrimination and harassment case involving 371 women and minorities

WASHINGTON — Fort Myer Construction Corp. has agreed to settle charges that it violated Executive Order 11246 by failing to provide equal employment opportunities to employees and job applicants at 413 construction sites in the D.C. metropolitan area.

An agreement reached by the federal contractor and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs resolves allegations that between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2010, the company discriminated against 27 qualified women and 136 qualified African Americans who applied for jobs as laborers, and unfairly terminated eight African American skilled laborers. It also resolves pay discrimination charges stemming from Fort Myer Construction's practice of assigning equally qualified workers performing the same jobs to projects paying different hourly rates, some with fewer work hours. This resulted in lower wages for 44 African American and 156 Hispanic laborers.

"Strong enforcement and vigilance are critical to opening doors of opportunity for more women and minorities in the construction industry, ensuring that all workers get an equal shot at getting to work on the highest-paying projects," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu.

OFCCP's investigation of Fort Myer Construction began in January 2011 during the agency's review of companies involved in constructing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's consolidated headquarters in southeastern D.C. Because that project is valued above $25 million and will last more than a year, this undertaking has been designated by the Labor Department as a Mega Construction Project, which is a priority area for OFCCP. More than 300 workers were interviewed over the course of the compliance evaluation, which focused on Fort Meyer Construction's employment practices in 2010.

"Getting those workers in the door and keeping them is going to take more than improved applicant tracking and better pay policies," said OFCCP Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Michele Hodge. "It's going to take a concerted effort by Fort Myer Construction's leadership to change a culture that devalues too many workers."

During their investigation, OFCCP compliance officers received more than 30 phone calls alerting them to charges of harassment, intimidation, threats and coercion at work. The agency discovered that supervisors at Fort Myer Construction used hostile and derogatory language toward African American and Hispanic employees, as well as a disabled veteran. The supervisors sexually harassed and tried to date female subordinates. African American women were locked out of restroom facilities and had feces left in their work trucks. A company vice president tried to interfere in OFCCP's investigation by discouraging Hispanic employees from talking to agency inspectors conducting an onsite review. Even a female investigator from OFCCP was subjected to inappropriate sexual jokes by a superintendent while at a Fort Myer Construction work site.

Under the terms of the settlement, Fort Myer Construction will pay $900,000 in back wages and interest to 371 class members and make job offers to seven women and 30 African Americans from that class as laborer positions become available. The company has also agreed to undertake extensive training and monitoring measures to ensure that all its employment practices – including hiring, termination and compensation – fully comply with the laws enforced by OFCCP.

D.C.-based Fort Myer Construction builds, repairs and maintains streets, roads, bridges and underground utilities. In 2010, the company received more than $400 million in federal funds for work on 155 construction projects in the D.C. area. Some of its largest contracts that year were with the U.S. Department of Transportation, General Services Administration, Navy Department, National Park Service and Smithsonian Institution.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. These three laws require that those who do business with the federal government, both contractors and subcontractors, follow the fair and reasonable standard that they not discriminate in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. For more information, visit http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/.

Read this news release en Español.

Repost: Court Rules that Federal Law Bars Employers from Discriminating Against Breastfeeding Employees

Legal Momentum recently represented female construction workers in a discrimination case and helped protect the right to receive breastfeeding accommodations on the job.

"Earlier this year, Legal Momentum filed to intervene on behalf of four female sheet metal workers in a lawsuit filed against Vamco Sheet Metals, Inc., a New York-based construction company that manufactures and installs sheet metal. The lawsuit was originally filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September of last year, after the agency’s investigation concluded that the company had discriminated against its female employees. The investigation was prompted by the charges filed by four women, each of whom reported being terminated from her job due to her sex.

Legal Momentum’s court papers also noted that one of the women reported being discharged by the construction company after she notified her supervisor that she was a nursing mother in need of time and space to express milk for her child.

In their court papers opposing Legal Momentum’s intervention, defendants argued that the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not protect employees who are terminated after requesting breastfeeding-related accommodations. The Magistrate Judge disagreed, ruling that employers who take adverse employment action against nursing employees may be found to violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act" (Legal Momentum, 12 June 2014).

Read the full press release and ruling at https://www.legalmomentum.org.

Repost: DOL Settles Sex Harassment Case in Puerto Rico

News Release

U.S. Department of Labor            For Immediate Release                    April 1, 2014

Office of Public Affairs               Contact: Ted Fitzgerald                   Andre J. Bowser

Boston, Mass.                             Phone: 617-565-2075                      617-565-2074

Release Number: 14-363-NEW    Email: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov   bowser.andre.j@dol.gov

Puerto Rico construction contractor settles sexual harassment and discrimination case with US Department of Labor

Constructora Santiago to pay $40,000 to three female victims

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Constructora Santiago II Corp., a federal construction contractor in San Juan, will make a lump sum payment of $40,000 to three female carpenters who were sexually harassed, retaliated against and denied regular and overtime work hours comparable to those of their male counterparts. The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

“No person — male or female — should have to put up with the degrading and inappropriate treatment these women faced just to get a paycheck,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “There’s no excuse for that kind of behavior, and it’s particularly egregious when the discrimination takes place at work sites funded by taxpayers.”

OFCCP investigators reviewed Constructora Santiago’s employment practices and determined that the company violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating against women in compensation and by permitting sexual harassment and retaliation against employees who complained about a hostile work environment.

Additionally, OFCCP found that Constructora Santiago did not provide adequate restroom facilities for female employees. At times, the contractor provided no restrooms for women, and female employees were forced to relieve themselves outdoors, even in the presence of male colleagues. When a restroom was available, it was not separate from the men’s restroom and was not clean. Investigators also found that female workers were subjected to unwelcome, sexually charged comments, teasing, jokes and pressure to go out on dates. The conciliation agreement entered into by Constructora Santiago and OFCCP resolves these and numerous other legal violations at the company’s construction work sites across Puerto Rico.

Under the terms of the conciliation agreement, the construction company will pay $40,000 to the three female carpenters, provide adequate toilet and changing facilities for them and develop anti-harassment policies. Constructora Santiago has also agreed to undertake extensive self-monitoring measures and training to ensure that its employment practices fully comply with Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Constructora Santiago has built more than $900 million worth of highways and bridges in Puerto Rico, as well as commercial and industrial structures. In January 2012, when OFCCP’s review began, the company held a federally assisted contract worth more than $10 million with the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. These three laws require those who do business with the federal government, both contractors and subcontractors, must follow the fair and reasonable standard that they not discriminate in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. For more information, visit http://www.dol.gov/ofccp.

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EN ESPAÑOL

Contratista de la construcción de Puerto Rico sella una disputa sobre un caso de acoso y discriminación con el Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU.

Constructora Santiago paga $40.000 a tres víctimas femeninas

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – La Constructora Santiago II Corp., un contratista de la construcción a nivel federal de San Juan, pagará un total de $40.000 a tres carpinteras que fueron acosadas sexualmente, sufrieron represalias y a quienes se les negó un horario laboral regular y horas extra a diferencia de sus compañeros masculinos. El acuerdo llegó después de una investigación por parte de la Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) [Oficina de Programas de Cumplimiento del Contratos Federales] del Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU.

“Ninguna persona, hombre o mujer, debería tolerar el tratamiento denigrante e inadecuado que estas mujeres enfrentaron para obtener un cheque de pago”, dijo Patricia A. Shiu, Directora del OFCCP. “No existe excusa alguna para este tipo de comportamiento, y cuando la discriminación ocurre en lugares de trabajo financiados por los contribuyentes es particularmente atroz”.

Los investigadores de la OFCCP revisaron las prácticas de empleo de Constructora Santiago y determinaron que la empresa violaba el Decreto Ejecutivo 11246 discriminando contra las mujeres en materia de compensación laboral, y permitiendo el acoso sexual y las represalias contra las empleadas que protestaban acerca de un entorno de trabajo hostil.

Además, la OFCCP encontró que Constructora Santiago no proveía instalaciones de descanso y baños para las trabajadoras empleadas. A veces, el contratista no proporcionaba instalaciones de baños para mujeres, y las empleadas eran obligadas a hacer sus necesidades fuera de las instalaciones, inclusive ante la presencia de sus colegas masculinos. Cuando existía un baño disponible, éste no estaba separado de los baños de los hombres y no estaba limpio. Los investigadores también hallaron que las trabajadoras eran víctimas de comentarios indeseables, sexualmente implícitos, bromas, burlas y presión para aceptar citas. El acuerdo de conciliación realizado entre Constructora Santiago y la OFCCP resuelve estas y otras numerosas violaciones a la ley en los lugares de trabajo de construcción de la empresa en todo Puerto Rico.

Según los términos del acuerdo de conciliación, la empresa constructora pagará $40.000 a estas tres carpinteras, proveerá baños adecuados y vestuarios para las mismas, y desarrollará políticas contra el acoso. Constructora Santiago además ha acordado asumir medidas de monitoreo interno y entrenamiento extensivas para asegurarse de que todas las prácticas de empleo cumplan por completo con la Orden Ejecutiva 11246, que prohíbe a los contratistas y sub-contratistas discriminar en el empleo con base en la raza, color, religión, sexo u origen nacional.

Constructora Santiago ha construido más de $900 millones de carreteras y puentes en Puerto Rico, al igual que estructuras comerciales e industriales. En enero de 2012, cuando comenzó la revisión de la OFCCP, la empresa tenía un contrato con asistencia federal por un valor de $10 millones con la Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority [Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación de Puerto Rico].

Aparte de la Orden Ejecutiva 11246, la OFCCP aplica la  Sección 503 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973 y la Ley de Asistencia para el Reajuste de los Veteranos de la Era de Vietnam de 1974. Estas tres leyes requieren de aquellos que realizan negocios con el gobierno federal, tanto contratistas como subcontratistas, cumplan con un estándar justo y razonable, que no discrimine en el empleo sobre la base de sexo, raza, color, religión, origen nacional, discapacidad o estado de veterano protegido. Por más información, visite http://www.dol.gov/ofccp.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The department’s Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the department at (202) 693-7828 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (federal relay).

Repost: Settlement Requires New Jersey Contractor, Plumbers’ Union to Recruit More Women

By Lorraine McCarthy

March 3 — A New Jersey mechanical contracting company agreed Feb. 24 to pay a total of $400,000 to settle allegations that it violated state law and regulations barring gender discrimination in employment by failing to employ female plumbers on jobs it handled, including many taxpayer-funded projects (In re Falasca Mech. Inc. and Plumbers & Pipefitters Local No. 332, N.J. Att'y Gen., No. EF14SB-61686, administrative consent order filed 2/24/14).

Under terms of the administrative consent order announced by the New Jersey Attorney General's office, Falasca Mechanical Inc. of Vineland, N.J., will make payments of $250,000 to the state and $150,000 to journeyman plumber Bette Feldeisen, a member of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 322.

Under its ongoing labor agreement with Local 322, Falasca staffs its projects by requesting workers from the union.

The state alleged that Falasca repeatedly hired less experienced, less qualified male plumbers over Feldeisen and in general failed to make a good-faith effort to employ female plumbers while handling millions of dollars in public works jobs.

Local 322, which is a non-paying party to the same settlement, agreed to join with Falasca in a cooperative effort to increase female recruitment into the union and to increase training and employment opportunities for female plumbers during the next three apprenticeship cycles.

Preferential Hiring of Men Alleged
Feldeisen worked for Falasca on occasional jobs beginning in 2000 and continuously from December 2006 through January 2009, when she was laid off for economic reasons, according to the state's summary of the case.

When the company was hired for a 2009 hospital construction project that required work on medical gas systems, Feldeisen, who holds a certification in medical gas installation, was passed over by Falasca and the union in favor of male plumbers who had fewer years of experience and who weren't certified in medical gas installation, according to the state.

In administrative complaints filed against Falasca and the union in September 2010, Feldeisen alleged that she was passed over repeatedly when Falasca sought plumbers through Local 322 for private and public projects, despite her experience and prior employment relationship with the contractor.

Her complaints alleged gender discrimination in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the state's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) rules for public contractors.

The state's investigation showed that “for a period of at least four years, encompassing over 150 public contracts, Falasca has not been in compliance with the EEO rules when accepting and carrying out public contracts,’’ according to the consent order.

Hiring Goals, Recruitment Efforts Mandated
Under terms of its agreement with the state, Falasca makes no admission of wrongdoing or liability.

In addition to the monetary terms of the settlement, Falasca agreed to work with Local 322 to comply with state hiring goals for female workers.

The company also agreed to keep records for at least three years of its efforts to reach hiring goals for women for every public contract it is awarded, including records of all individuals requested or referred from a union and all those interviewed or hired.

Falasca also will develop its own anti-discrimination and EEO rules compliance policy, distribute it to all unions with which the company has a labor agreement, and provide mandatory training on the policy to all project managers, foremen, hiring personnel and the Local 322 business manager.

The settlement includes reporting and monitoring provisions to ensure compliance.

The Local 322 Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) has committed to its own outreach and recruitment efforts to attract more women to the apprenticeship program.

The union agreed to undertake outreach to students in at least three vocational-technical high schools during the next five academic years to provide information about the plumbing industry as a career and to encourage first- and second-year female students to pursue careers in the trade.

Representatives of Falasca and Local 322 could not be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorraine McCarthy in Philadelphia at lmccarthy@bna.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan J. McGolrick at smcgolrick@bna.com

Repost: Meet Janette Wipper, OFCCP's New Pacific Regional Director

Dear Colleagues,

Today, I am pleased to welcome Janette Wipper to OFCCP as our new Regional Director for the Pacific.

Janette (starts out like “just” not “January”) comes to OFCCP from Sanford Heisler, a national civil rights law firm. During her seven-year tenure there, she litigated complex class action lawsuits on behalf of workers facing discrimination, misclassification and wage theft. In 2010 she was tapped to serve as Managing Partner, overseeing the establishment and expansion of Sanford Heisler’s San Francisco office.

At the firm, Janette served as lead advisor and consultant on the use of statistical evidence and experts in numerous class action cases. Among her many significant victories is the landmark Novartis lawsuit in which the pharmaceutical giant had to pay $250 million for discriminating against 5,600 female sales representatives in pay, promotion and because of pregnancy. That is the largest jury award for workers in a class action sex discrimination case ever. And Janette played a crucial role in the victory by uncovering flaws in the analysis used by a key expert for the defense. For her efforts on the Novartis case, she was named one of Law360’s rising stars in March of 2013.

Prior to joining Sanford, Janette practiced civil rights impact litigation at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Throughout her career, she has been a champion for social and environmental justice on behalf of low-wage workers, women and communities of color. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Janette received a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Vermont Law School. In between acquiring these two degrees, she worked as field coordinator in Ecuador, advocating on behalf of indigenous communities affected by oil contamination in the Amazon. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and five-year-old daughter.

As the head of OFCCP’s Pacific operations, Janette will oversee more than 100 staff working 12 offices and responsible for enforcement across 11 states and territories. The Pacific is one of the largest and most diverse regions in our agency, and, over the past year, staff in the region were responsible for negotiating more than $2.2 million in back wages and 933 job offers on behalf of 3,685 workers affected by discrimination – the largest remedies in the nation.

I am thrilled to welcome Janette to OFCCP and am confident that she will be a terrific addition to our team! I know you will agree.

Pat

Repost: Weighed Down

In India, women (who make up about 50% of construction workers there) are told that they "aren't smart enough" to do the skilled construction work. In the United States, women are told they "aren't strong enough" to really do construction.

Do all the smart women live in the United States and all the strong women live in India? We think not.

------------------------------------------------------------

The HinduPhoto: Mohammed Yousuf

The construction industry in India has always been male-dominated, with men doing the more skilled jobs and women reduced to unskilled labour. Women are involved mostly in physical work such as carrying construction material, breaking bricks and rocks, cleaning, etc. However, women construction labourers often face discrimination in wage payment. It has been found that women workers are usually paid 40 to 60 per cent less than men; sometimes even below the minimum wages set by the government.

Apart from that, there are hardly separate facilities like toilets, first-aid and child care for the women workforce at construction sites. Women labourers work under serious life and health risks with no safety gear and a polluted environment.

In the photograph, the camera captures women toiling at a construction site in Hyderabad.

Visit http://www.thehindu.com to view the original article.

Repost: State by State Map of Pregnancy Discrimination Laws, Breastfeeding and Leave Rights

As part of Legal Momentum’s expertise in pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, they now feature a new interactive, user-friendly map providing a state-by-state guide to pregnancy discrimination laws in the U.S. on their website. The guide also includes information about rights pertaining to breastfeeding and pregnancy leave.

Repost: Shiu Dusts off 1980 Goal for Women in Trades

By Anna Halkidis

WeNews correspondent
Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Thirty-plus years have passed. Now the director of federal contract compliance for the Department of Labor is focused on getting U.S. women a 7-percent piece of all skilled trade jobs performed, a goal first set in 1980.

Patricia Shiu at a March event in New York City.

Credit: Anna HalkidisNEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--The main attraction at a recent national tradeswomen's gathering here wasPatricia Shiu, a labor department official in a position to help if more women would just tell her office what's going on.

"We have their backs," Shiu said of affected women. "But we need to hear their voices."

Some at the meeting took the cue and spoke up.

Leah Rambo is director of training at the Nicholas Maldarelli Training Center, in Queens, N.Y., which educates sheet metal workers. She told the crowd that contractors have specifically asked her not to send female workers to their site.

Shiu, as director of federal contract compliance for the U.S. Department of Labor, which legally enforces equal employment opportunities for women, said her office is ready to hear from female workers who feel they have suffered discrimination.

Before President Barack Obama appointed her in 2009, Shiu, a lawyer, spent 26 years working on employment discrimination cases for the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center in San Francisco.

She came to the gathering of tradeswomen and their advocates, held here in late March, ready to show she understood the common problems that women on construction sites say they face: unwanted attention, being monitored more than male counterparts, receiving menial tasks.

"Women suffer all types of repercussions, harassment and discrimination," Shiu said.

And then there's the problem of women getting few of the jobs under federal contract.

Shiu is adamant about doing something about that. Her goal is to increase the current 2.6 percent of women in trade jobs performed under the federal contracting process to 6.9 percent; a figure promised by the Labor Department in 1980, but never accomplished.

To read the full article, visit http://womensenews.org.

Repost: Skilled Women Break Through Barriers to Entry and Promotion in Trades Work

Saturday, 06 October 2012
By Eleanor J Bader, Truthout | Report

Although role models are scarce, training is hard to find and sexism is rampant, determined women are finding professional success and satisfaction in the skilled trades: construction, sheet metal working, welding, pipefitting - and more.

When Leah Rambo became a sheet metal worker in 1988, she never imagined that she'd one day run the apprenticeship program for Local 38 of the Sheet Metal Air and Rail Transportation Union. But a little more than a year ago, she became one of the highest-ranking women in the US labor movement, taking the helm of a hands-on, 4 1/2-year training program for sheet metal workers in New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties.

This year, the program has 306 students, eight percent of them female.

"The challenge is not only to get women enrolled," Rambo says. "If you promote trades work to women, and they see other women doing the jobs, a lot will want in. The bigger challenge is improving the conditions so they stay in the field. Most women experience discrimination or harassment. As a matter of fact, when you are a woman, nobody - not the bosses and not your co-workers - sees your color. Your gender is much more important than your ethnicity or race. The sexism is not as bad as it was, but it is always an issue. Women are still hit on, still don't get the same promotion opportunities and still get laid off more frequently than men." ...

To read the full article, visit truth-out.org.

Repost: Breaking down stereotypes in a man's world

 

Being a woman in the construction trades can have its advantages

 

By Hattie Klotz, Postmedia News August 15, 2012

Read more: http://www.canada.com/Breaking+down+stereotypes+world/7082736/story.html#ixzz246JxCnyp

 

Jessica Madott (L), Logistics Assistant, Stairworld, and Carolyn Lambrechts (R), Site Service Technician, Stairworld, check a piece of wooden railing on July 13, 2012, in Ottawa, Ont.

Photograph by: Jana Chytilova , Ottawa Citizen

Anything you can do, I can do better. Ethel Merman probably did not have carpentry, drywalling, tiling and plumbing in mind when she sang that song decades ago. But fast forward and there are plenty of women in construction who are happy today to be considered equals in a male-dominated workplace.

For Jessica Madott, an installer at StairWorld in Ottawa, carpentry is about working smart when the going gets tough.

"I think it's about reaching a balance with the other gender. There's no question that I can't lift like a guy. It's important to know your limitations in this industry and understand that asking for help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign of intelligence.

"As long as we can all work around our respective physical limitations to get the job done properly, efficiently and safely, then it doesn't matter what it took to get there."
Caroline Lambrechts, a site service technician at StairWorld, agrees with Madott that being successful means "working smarter rather than harder."

Female construction workers prove themselves in a ‘man’s field’

Female workers around campus say to fit in with the men they can’t be too sensitive.

By

• Bryna Godar

June 06, 2012

With light-rail construction engulfing the University of Minnesota, campus is covered in hard hats and neon vests. But few of those are worn by female workers.

Women have joined the construction industry as laborers, engineers and managers, but the field is still largely dominated by men.

“We’re still a minority, but not as much as we used to be,” said light-rail construction worker Jenellen Gallatin, who has been working in construction for 12 years.

“I like physical work, so for me, it works,” she said.

In Minneapolis, 17.6 percent of light-rail workers are minorities, and 6.3 percent are female, with some individuals factoring into both percentages. These numbers are near the project goal of employing 18 percent minority and 6 percent female workers.