MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Office of the Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with Ryan Companies US Inc. to resolve allegations that the federal contractor’s employees faced sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and/or faced retaliatory actions after complaining about harassment and cooperating with federal investigators.
During a routine compliance evaluation, OFCCP discovered worker harassment based on sex that included physical, verbal and visual harassment. The incidents occurred while employed by the Minneapolis-based construction services provider to work on federally funded projects including construction of a U.S. federal courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa.
OFCCP also determined the harassment was severe and pervasive, and officials with Ryan Companies knew of and, in some instances, participated in the harassment. Federal investigators learned employees had complained repeatedly over several years about illegal behaviors. The alleged incidents occurred between March 2021 and February 2024 in the Des Moines metropolitan area.
“No worker should ever be illegally harassed and then retaliated against for reporting their workplace concerns and speaking with federal investigators. These actions are reprehensible violations of federal law,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Acting Director Michele Hodge. “For nearly 60 years, OFCCP has helped define and defend equal employment opportunity for U.S. workers. We are committed to holding employers that receive federal funding responsible for providing a workplace free of harassment where the core values of equality and equity are honored.”
To resolve the allegations, Ryan Companies entered into an agreement to pay $350,000 in monetary relief and comply with injunctive relief and routine monitoring.
“People should be able to go to work every day and be treated with dignity and respect, not degradation and abuse. The harassment and hostile work environment that these employees faced is appalling and might have continued if OFCCP had not intervened,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Regional Director Carmen Navarro in Chicago. “Federal contractors must provide a workplace where harassment and retaliation are unacceptable. We will tolerate nothing less.”
Founded in 1938, Ryan Companies US Inc. is a national builder, developer, designer and real estate manager headquartered in Minneapolis and operates offices throughout the U.S. Ryan Companies currently has contracts with the U.S. General Services Administration. Since 2015, the company has held more than $900 million in federal contracts.
OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator to identify applicants or workers who may be entitled to monetary relief and/or consideration for job placement as a result of OFCCP’s compliance evaluations and complaint investigations. If you think you may be a class member who was subjected to sexual harassment, hostile work environment, or retaliation by Ryan Companies at its worksites in the Des Moines, Iowa area during the investigative period, please use OFCCP’s Class Member Locator to learn more about this and other settlements.
In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. Together, these laws prohibit employment discrimination.
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