In a last blast by the Obama Administration during its final hours, the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) filed lawsuits on January 17, 2017 against banking giant JPMorgan Chase alleging systemic discrimination against women in its pay practices and against the tech company Oracle alleging systemic discrimination in hiring and pay practices in violation of Executive Order 11246.

More specifically, in OFCCP v. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (case number unavailable), the agency alleged that the bank discriminated against at least 93 women by paying them less than their male counterparts in the 4 positions within the company's Investment Bank, Technology & Market Strategies unit and failed to evaluate its compensation systems to determine whether there were gender-based disparities.

In OFCCP v. Oracle America, Inc. (OFCCP No. R00192699), OFCCP claimed that the company engaged in systemic compensation discrimination against women, African-American, and Asian employees in three lines of business at the company's headquarters in Redwood Shores, California and that it engaged in a pattern or practice of hiring discrimination in favor of Asian Indians applicants. Additionally, the agency alleged that Oracle refused to produce required records during its compliance evaluation, including compensation and hiring data, adverse impact analyses, and materials showing that the company performed an in-depth review of its compensation practices.

In both cases, OFCCP is seeking complete relief for the affected workers, including lost pay, interest, and lost benefits, as well as orders permanently enjoining JPMorgan and Oracle from discriminating in their hiring and compensation practices. If the companies fail to provide relief as ordered in the lawsuit, OFCCP requests that their government contracts be canceled and that they be debarred from entering into future federal contracts.

Adding these latest cases to the high profile suits recently filed against Palantir and Google, it is clear that OFCCP is trying in the final months of the Obama administration to develop a track record of systemic compensation enforcement. Stay tuned as more announcements could be made during the final hours.

We will continue to follow these cases as they develop. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact your FortneyScott attorney.