Dive Brief:
Performance Food Group agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that since 2004 it failed to hire women, the agency announced Dec. 16.
The five-year consent decree settling the legal action forbids Performance Food Group from failing to hire women for positions such as driver and requires that the employer hire a vice president of diversity, among other things. Women continue to be excluded from traditionally male-dominated industries and occupations based upon misconceived and outdated notions about their abilities, Maria Salacuse, EEOC Assistant General Counsel, said. The EEOC will pursue class-wide litigation to eliminate discriminatory barriers that women face in the workplace especially in the hiring process.