Entergy Corporation, a federal contractor, has been sued by the Justice Department for allegedly violating Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. According to the lawsuit, Entergy refused to comply with federal contractor requirements to submit proof of required affirmative action programs to the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
“Government contractors that choose to accept federal funds also agree to abide by laws and regulations aimed at preventing employment discrimination,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “When a government contractor, like Entergy, refuses to adhere to the obligations it accepted as a federal contractor, that refusal undermines the public trust that taxpayers expect in ensuring that public funding is used in a manner that complies with both federal law and agency regulations.”
Entergy, as a federal contractor, is prohibited from discriminating against employees and job applicants because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. The company is also required to take affirmative action to employ qualified women, minorities, people with disabilities and protected veterans. To determine compliance with those affirmative action and non-discrimination requirements, government contractors, including Entergy, are required to develop and maintain written affirmative action programs, retain personnel and employment records, and provide OFCCP access to those documents during compliance reviews or investigations.
The lawsuit alleges that since May 2012, Entergy has refused OFCCP’s repeated requests to turn over its written affirmative action programs and other records requested as part of the routine compliance review of 11 Entergy locations in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Entergy earns over $1 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts to provide services to the government.
“This issue has been litigated and re-litigated many times, and the courts have been clear: companies that profit from federal contracts must comply with our requests for proof that they are meeting their obligations,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. “We shouldn’t have to spend more of those dollars taking them to court because they refuse to abide by the law. So, I urge Entergy Chairman and CEO Leo Denault to respect our nation’s hard-won civil rights laws.”
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeks a permanent injunction requiring Entergy to comply with its obligations, including its obligation to produce documents requested by OFCCP within 30 days of the request.
The case is being handled by Senior Trial Attorney Valerie Meyer of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section.
Additional information about OFCCP and the Employment Litigation Section is available on their respective websites.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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