NS to pay nearly $500k in discrimination case

A division of Norfolk Southern Corp. has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to resolve allegations of race-based hiring discrimination.    A division of Norfolk Southern Corp. has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to resolve allegations of race-based hiring discrimination, the office said in a statement.
   Under the terms of the agreement, NS will pay $492,000 in back pay and interest to 2,086 African-Americans that applied for positions with Maintenance of Way #34 – a business unit in the Class I railway’s engineering department.
   MOW #34 entered into the settlement after a scheduled OFCCP compliance evaluation found it failed to provide equal employment opportunities to African Americans who applied for track laborer and building and bridge laborer positions at the company’s Roanoke facility from Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2011 by engaging discriminatory hiring practices.
   NS also agreed to make job offers to seven of the non-selected applicants, discontinue use of the selection procedures in question for the track laborer and building and bridge laborer positions, and review and modify its employment practices including recruitment, screening, interviewing, selection, rejection and hiring in order to comply with Executive Order 11246.
   The settlement, which does not include any admission of liability on the part of NS, resolves all violations found by OFCCP.
   Norfolk Southern has declined to comment on the agreement.
   “Workers should never be denied a fair shot at employment because of factors that have absolutely nothing to do with their ability to effectively perform the job,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “This case highlights our commitment to combatting discrimination that gets in the way of equal employment opportunities for qualified workers.”