Ignoring Affirmative Action Plan Requirements Can Land You in Court

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) filed a lawsuit against federal contractor, Convergys Customer Management Group, Inc., requiring the company to comply with compliance reviews and provide documents containing affirmative action plans for their facilities located in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. Convergys, based in Cincinnati, is a worldwide customer-service management provider that provides agent-assisted and self-service software to the federal government.

DOL seeks to cancel the contractor’s current federal contracts and prevent future government contracting if the company does not comply with the request. Director of OFCCP Patricia A. Shiu stated, “Convergys knew when it became a federal contractor that it would be held to equal employment standard” and added, “Refusing to cooperate, in even the most basic ways — providing required paperwork to the department — flies in the face of the compact all contractors have with the American taxpayer. This agency is prepared to take all actions necessary to correct this, up to and including seeking to ban future government contracts for Convergys.”

This lawsuit is related to OFCCP’s enforcement of Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. As amended, these three laws make it illegal for contractors and subcontractors doing business with the federal government to discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.

For more information, please see the press release here.

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