ROME, Ga. – The U.S. Labor Department on Monday announced that Ball Container LLC, a subsidiary of aluminum packaging manufacturer Ball Corp., has entered into a conciliation agreement to pay $309,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged race-based hiring discrimination at the company's beverage manufacturing facility in Rome.
A routine compliance review by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found that from Feb. 1, 2020, through Jan. 31, 2021, the employer discriminated against 192 black applicants for production technician positions.
The company also agreed to provide four job offers to eligible class members when positions become available, review and revise its hiring process and provide training to all managers, supervisors and other company officials involved in the hiring process.
Ball Container's actions violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.
"Federal contractors that fail to give equal consideration to all applicants – regardless of gender, race or ethnicity – violate the law," said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Southeast Regional Director Diana Sen in Atlanta. "There is no gray area for federal contractors, as regulations require them to ensure equal opportunity for all workers and compliance with federal employment laws."
Based in Westminster, Colorado, Ball Corp. is a federal contractor that supplies aluminum packaging for beverage, personal care and household products, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government.
Since 2020, Ball Corp. has received more than $1.1 billion in contracts with the Department of the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Space Development Agency.
