Submitted by Husch Blackwell Associate Kayt Kopen
Federal contractors will soon need to update their Equal Employment Opportunity policies and their Affirmative Action Plans. According to an announcement by DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, federal contracts and subcontracts awarded or modified after April 8, 2015, must include new contract language prohibiting discrimination …
Title VII does not just protect U.S. citizens from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation while on U.S. soil; it also protects U.S. citizens overseas when working for U.S. companies. A recent complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia Alexandria division highlights this. On August 17, 2011, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued DynCorp International for hostile environment and retaliation. According to the Complaint [pdf], DynCorp, a military contractor and aircraft maintenance company, employed James Friso overseas. In late 2006, DynCorp transferred Friso to work at its jobsite in Taji, Iraq, where, allegedly, Friso experienced sexually charged harassment because he did not fit the male gender stereotype. The Complaint alleges that Friso was subjected to frequent derogatory comments by a co-worker about him and homosexuality. The Complaint alleges that Friso complained multiple times, but that the company failed to respond. Ultimately, Friso was transferred to Germany, which resulted in a loss of pay. The Complaint argues that this transfer was retaliatory in nature.
The FAR Councils have adopted a final rule [pdf] revising the categories of veterans protected by federal equal opportunity laws. The rule updates the FAR to reflect Department of Labor regulations addressing equal opportunity requirements for veterans. The FAR amendments identify four categories of veterans: disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, armed forces service medal veterans,…
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is proposing changes to the standard-form Scheduling Letter that will impose significant new burdens on contractors. The proposed changes would require contractors to provide their leave policies (including their entire employee handbook), more detailed demographic and compensation data, as well as the last three years of VETS-100/VETS-100A reports.…
On April 26, 2011, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs formally proposed regulations to update contractor affirmative action obligations concerning veterans. The proposed rules impose additional obligations on covered federal contractors and subcontractors. For the first time, OFCCP is seeking to impose quantitative measurements to assess the hiring of protected veterans, self-identification invitations…
