U.S. Department of Labor Enters Into Consent Decree With Meat Processing Company to Resolve Hiring Discrimination Cases

U.S. Department of Labor

GREELEY, CO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and JBS USA have entered into a consent decree resolving allegations of hiring discrimination at the company’s beef processing facilities in Hyrum, Utah, and Cactus, Texas.

The decree settles allegations in two actions pending before the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ). In the two cases, OFCCP alleged that JBS USA discriminated against female, white, black, Native American, and Hispanic applicants for general production laborer positions at its Hyrum and Cactus facilities. JBS USA denies the OFCCP allegations and asserts it did not discriminate against any applicants for employment at its facilities.

While denying liability, JBS USA will voluntarily pay $4,000,000 in back wages and other monetary relief to 12,625 class members at the Hyrum and Cactus facilities and hire 1,664 of the applicants. To promote proactive compliance, OFCCP and JBS USA have agreed to undertake a five-year collaboration to enhance JBS’ company-wide compliance with Executive Order 11246 and to foster a constructive relationship between the agency and the contractor.

A beef and pork processor in the U.S., JBS USA and a subsidiary, Pilgrim’s Pride, a poultry processor, have agreed, under the decree, to retain an independent workplace consultant to review and revise their hiring process for general production laborers at all of their U.S. meat processing plants.

Job applicants who believe they are eligible for back pay or job opportunities from this settlement may check the OFCCP Class Member Locator, which provides information about this and other OFCCP settlements.

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