The Department of Labor announced that agricultural manufacturing giant John Deere has agreed to pay more than a million dollars ($1.1 million) in back wages to Black and Hispanic job seekers after facing allegations of systemic hiring discrimination.
The alleged practices impacted nearly 200 black applicants in Waterloo, 36 in Ankeny, and more than 40 Black and Hispanic workers at a Quad Cities plant.
The company is also making more than 50 job offers to people that are eligible and has promised to evaluate its personnel practices.
In a statement, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Midwest Regional Director Carmen Navarro said:
"The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting America's jobseekers from employment discrimination. The settlement reached with Deere & Co. resolves the hiring discrimination uncovered by OFCCP and ensures actions will be taken to correct and prevent a recurrence of discrimination."
The announcement comes nearly nine months after the company settled a lawsuit with an Iowa employee who said he had been subject to racist taunts for years. According to the Des Moines Register, the employee, named Johnnie Ray Hogan III, said several Deere employees referred to him as "the angry Black man" and espoused racial slurs toward him at the company's Des Moines
The outlet added that, before the settlement, John Deere attorneys denied many of the claims and wrote in a filing that Hogan's damages were contributed to or caused by his actions.
John Deere recently made the news for announcing layoffs of several hundred workers over the last several months with more layoffs planned for later this year. The latest cuts are set to take place in Moline, Illinois, where the company has informed workers in its Seeding and Cylinder operations that 120 employees would be placed on "indefinite layoff" effective June 28th.
Workers at John Deere plants have accused the company of acting on "greed" as America's most famous agricultural equipment company plans to shift more production to Mexico.
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