An arm of health care giant McKesson will pay $448,578 in back wages and interest as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve alleged systemic hiring discrimination at a Grapevine distribution facility.
McKesson Medical-Surgical, one of the largest medical supplies distributors in the country, is a subsidiary of Irving-based health care company McKesson Corp., the largest public company in Dallas-Fort Worth. It has more than $32 million in federal contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the Department of Labor’s release. The discrimination was identified as part of a routine compliance evaluation by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), a division of the Department of Labor which ensures that employers doing business with the federal government comply with laws and regulations requiring nondiscrimination.
The evaluation found that nearly 900 Black, Hispanic and white qualified applicants for associate material handler positions were allegedly discriminated against from Sept. 24, 2019 through Sept. 24, 2021. According to the conciliation agreement, the OFCCP found statistically significant differences in the hiring rates for Black, Hispanic and white applicants when compared to Asian applicants.
In addition to the back wages, McKesson Medical-Surgical agreed to make job offers to 32 eligible applicants, review its hiring practices and train management who oversee hiring decisions.
The agreement does not mean McKesson Medical-Surgical admits it violated nondiscrimination rules. In exchange for McKesson Medical-Surgical’s compliance, the OFCCP will not pursue administrative or judicial enforcement, though it reserves the right to institute those should McKesson Medical-Surgical fail to fulfill its obligations.