Ball Container pays $309K to resolve race-based hiring discrimination
Ball Container LLC, a subsidiary of Ball Corp., has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to settle hiring discrimination allegations. The investigation began after the DOL’s Federal Contract Compliance Programs was conducting a routine compliance review and discovered that from February 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021, Ball Container discriminated against 192 Black applicants for production technician positions at the Rome, Georgia, facility. These 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.”
As part of the agreement, Ball Container will pay $309,000 in back wages and interest to resolve the issue. Additionally, the company will:
- Provide four job offers to eligible class members when positions become available
- Review and revise its hiring process
- Provide training to all managers, supervisors and other company officials involved in the hiring process
What people are saying
In a recent quote, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Director Michele Hodge said, “Discrimination is preventable when employers have nondiscriminatory hiring procedures in place and see to it that they are followed. OFCCP will use every action available by law to ensure workers and job seekers are treated fairly, and that everyone has access to good paying jobs.”
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Southeast Regional Director Diana Sen added, “Federal contractors that fail to give equal consideration to all applicants – regardless of gender, race or ethnicity – violate the law. 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.”
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About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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