Rolls-Royce to Pay $135,000 to Settle DOL Hiring Bias Claims

Rolls-Royce Holdings agreed to pay $135,000 in back pay to settle sex discrimination allegations from the U.S. Labor Department that the federal contractor didn’t select 26 female workers for machine operator roles.

The alleged discrimination took place at the company’s Prince George, Virginia, location near Richmond from January to December 2017, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs said in a statement. In addition to back pay, Rolls-Royce will offer jobs to four of the 26 affected female applicants.

The company also entered into what’s known as an “early resolution conciliation agreement,” whereby Rolls-Royce will agree to corporatewide compliance with federal anti-discrimination and affirmative action obligations in exchange for five years free of Labor Department compliance audits. The conciliation agreement was signed Sept. 30 and made public Monday.

“Though no confirmed findings were assessed, and as we remain fully compliant under the law, Rolls-Royce embraces the opportunity to work collaboratively” with the OFCCP, Rolls-Royce spokesperson Donald Campbell said in an emailed statement.

He said the allegations related to one role at a single facility “in 2017 only.”

Other federal contractors, including Teradyne Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc., have agreed to early resolution conciliation agreements with the agency in the past year.

Rolls-Royce holds federal contracts with a number of federal entities, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the DOL statement.