D.C. contractor will pay 400 minority job seekers to settle discrimination charges

Construction company M.C. Dean Inc. will provide payments to nearly 400 former job seekers at its Sterling, Va., headquarters to settle allegations its hiring practices prevented minority applicants from obtaining positions, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. A review by the agency determined that in 2010 M.C. Dean — which has, over the years, been awarded a number of contracts by the D.C. government — used selection procedures for positions that “unfairly kept qualified minority candidates from securing jobs as apprentices and electricians.” “M.C. Dean’s selection procedures resulted in a statistically significant difference in the rates at which minorities and non-minorities were hired” into positions, the conciliation agreement between the Department of Labor and the company states.