Agreement reached over Hanford site contractor’s alleged hiring discrimination

A Washington company under contract at Richland’s Hanford site has agreed to pay over $150,000 in back wages and interest to Hispanic workers the company allegedly refused to hire.

The company, which did not admit fault, reached an agreement to extend back payments and job offers to eligible applicants who were previously rejected.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that Richland-based Washington River Protection Solutions discriminated against Hispanic applicants seeking jobs as health physics technician trainees throughout 2019.

The company provides environmental cleanup and management services under the U.S. Department of Energy and received over $7 billion in federal contracts between 2008 and 2021.

The company will pay a total of $157,621 to workers it allegedly refused to hire. It will also be required to revise and monitor its hiring process and policies to ensure nondiscriminatory hiring practices are being followed, according to the Department of Labor.

A Washington River Protection Solutions spokesperson said the company “has a long history of hiring a qualified and diverse workforce.”

“While we do not agree with the OFCCP, this was an opportunity to work collaboratively with the agency to close out a very old audit,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The company agreed to not use any candidate selection procedures that might negatively affect applicants of certain races or ethnicities, according to the agreement. It will also be required to maintain and make available records about the hiring process for each health physics technician trainee position.