WYOMING, Mich. (AP) — Gordon Food Service has agreed to pay $1.85 million and stop using what was deemed by the federal government an illegal strength test when hiring women.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday that the western Michigan-based company has agreed to give $1.85 million in back wages, interest and benefits to 926 qualified women seeking warehouse employment who were “systematically discriminated against,” with the company being ordered to hire 37 women.
The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs indicated that it found Gordon Food Service “systematically eliminated qualified women from the hiring process through various discriminatory means, including the unlawful use of the strength test.”
The food distribution company did not admit liability. It says it has changed its hiring process to “ensure a fair and objective process that eliminates the presumption of bias.”
