37 women are heading to Hormel for work after the company settled a hiring dispute with the Department of Labor. A Meating Place Dot Com article says Hormel will hire the women with retroactive seniority and pay back over half a million dollars in back wages to 403 female job applicants who were denied entry-level jobs at its Fremont, Nebraska plant. Hormel’s fine and retroactive hiring agreement bring to a close a case filed by the Labor Department after it found Hormel discriminated against the women in its hiring process. Hormel is a federal contractor so it’s required to hire according to anti-discriminatory rules set forth in an executive order. Hormel has a federal contract to be a food supplier for the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Defense. The Department of Labor found that Hormel was discriminatory in its hiring practices from February of 2008 to February of 2009. Hormel Foods said in a statement, “While we disagree with the Department of Labor, we believe a settlement now will avoid an unnecessary distraction.” Other meatpacking companies have faced similar suits over hiring practices, including Pilgrim’s Pride and JBS.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.