Bay Area technology giant Cisco must pay $2 million in lost wages and interest to certain San Jose employees, plus $2.75 million in extra pay over the next five years to certain employees nationwide, in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, which accused it of paying women, black and Latino workers less than male and white employees in similar jobs.
The department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which oversees firms doing work for the federal government, “found violations beginning in 2011,” and in order to resolve the matter through an early-agreement program, agreed to hold San Jose-headquartered Cisco liable for only the period of 2011 to 2013, the department said in a news release.
Cisco denied the allegations of pay discrimination, the department said.
The deal will ensure Cisco workers are fairly compensated, and will also “prevent similar issues from happening again at any of its facilities,” said Jane Suhr, regional director of the department’s contract-compliance program.
