The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
  • Home
  • Training & Education
  • Services
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for discrimination

June 8, 2020 By cs

CEOs of major Defense companies speak out about racism, call for unity

In many cases, their internal messages and social media posts went out days before military leaders issued their own calls for reflection.

It’s rare for defense CEOs to speak out about social or political issues, but many spent the early part of the week doing just that, sending internal messages to their employees and posting to social media about racism in America.

In many cases, their messages went out days before military leaders issued their own calls for reflection last Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The death of George Floyd was the result of a reprehensible act,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes said in a June 1 note to employees — a reference to the black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer last week. “Although authorities are taking action to ensure justice, the national response and global dialogue related to Mr. Floyd’s death point to a serious issue ― and we must not look away.

“We must take notice,” Hayes continued. “We have to respond clearly that racism, discrimination and hatred will not be tolerated. We must take this moment to embrace the fundamental values that unite us.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/06/ceos-major-defense-companies-speak-out-about-racism-call-unity/165925

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: anti-discrimination, discrimination, DoD, hatred, industry, racism

April 25, 2018 By AMK

President revokes ‘Fair Pay And Safe Workplaces’ EOs

President Donald J. Trump has loosened the federal government’s grip on businesses looking to secure federal contracts.

On March 27, 2017, the president signed Executive Order 13782 revoking executive orders by President Barak Obama that had regulated the conduct of federal contractors. President Trump’s EO 13782 expressly revokes Obama’s EO 13673, also known as the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” order, as well as subsequent amendments, set forth in Section 3 of EOs 13683 and 13738.

President Obama issued EO 13673 on July 31, 2014, with the stated purpose of ensuring that federal contractors comply with applicable labor laws. EO 13673 contained three major provisions that separately addressed (i) disclosure of compliance with labor laws, (ii) paycheck transparency and (iii) arbitration clauses for claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination.

  • More specifically, EO 13673 required federal agencies to include provisions in their solicitations to potential service providers directing them to disclose “whether there has been any administrative merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment” for violations of certain labor laws issued against them within the preceding three years.
  • EO 13673 also required all agency solicitations and contracts to include that service providers must issue to individuals performing work under the contract a document containing information on “that individual’s hours worked, overtime hours, pay and any additions made to or deductions made from pay.”
  • EO 13673 further required agencies to include in their solicitations and contracts a provision that service providers are prohibited from including in their contracts with employees clauses requiring the arbitration of claims arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or sounding in any tort relating to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=692996

 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: arbitration, discrimination, Executive Order, Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces, labor law

September 28, 2016 By AMK

The thin legal case for affirmative action in contracting

Affirmative action in government contracting is alive — barely.

On September 9, 2016, a federal appeals court upheld a Small Business Administration program that gives advantages to people who have suffered racial discrimination, reasoning that the law as written doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, because anyone can be the target of racial bias. The decision, which is based on paper-thin legal logic, is an attempt to keep remediation-based affirmative action from disappearing altogether. It may be too little, too late.

8aThe program, known as 8(a) after the section of the Small Business Act in which it appears, gives a preference in government contracting to small businesses owned by “socially and economically disadvantaged” individuals. The law defines the socially disadvantaged as people “who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities.”

If this sounds like race-based affirmative action, that’s because it is. The SBA regulations implementing the law create a presumption that any member of racial minority has been subject to bias. Unless the presumption is overcome by evidence that the business owner hasn’t suffered discrimination — a pretty unlikely scenario — the program functions to give minority business owners an advantage.

Back in the day, the racial preference wouldn’t have been a legal problem. The original theory of affirmative action was precisely to remedy past discrimination by giving an advantage to those who had suffered its effects, namely racial minorities.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-13/the-thin-legal-case-for-affirmative-action-in-contracting

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 8(a), affirmative action, anti-discrimination, discrimination, past discrimination, race-based, SBA, set-aside, small disadvantaged business

May 2, 2014 By AMK

Lawsuit says GSA discriminates against blind contractors

A group of blind federal contractors filed a lawsuit against the General Services Administration last week over a contractor website they say shuts out the visually impaired.

The System for Award Management website, SAM.gov, contains numerous buttons, checkboxes, drop-down menus and “mouseovers” that federal contractors must navigate each year in order to keep their contractor status current.  Those bells and whistles make it difficult or impossible for screen reading software that blind people use to navigate the Internet to decode the site, the suit claims.

GSA phone-in help desk employees are also not sufficiently trained in disability issues, the suit claims, making it even more difficult for blind contractors to complete their registrations.

The suit was filed as a class action by the American Council for the Blind and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  The groups claim GSA violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which, among other things, bars discrimination against federal contractors and grantees based solely on a disability.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2014/04/lawsuit-says-gsa-discriminates-against-blind-contractors/83179/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 504 compliance, accessibility, class action, disability, discrimination, FBO, FBO.gov, GSA, Internet, litigation, SAM, SAM.gov, System for Award Management, vendor registration

April 27, 2012 By AMK

Obama declines to issue executive order on contractor bias

The White House has confirmed reports that President Obama does not intend to issue an executive order cracking down on federal contractors that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Some lawmakers and advocates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have been seeking such an order.

“The president is dedicated to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans and that is why he has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit employers across the country from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye said Wednesday. “The president is committed to lasting and comprehensive change, and therefore our goal is passage of ENDA, which is a legislative solution to LGBT employment discrimination — just as the president pressed for legislative repeal” of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The White House took the unusual step of addressing a hypothetical executive order after it received a letter signed by 72 Democratic Members of Congress requesting it. The lawmakers argued such an order would boost prospects for the long-pending legislation, which would cover a wider variety of private sector employers.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who championed the letter, said at a March 29 briefing, “it is unconscionable that in 2012 LGBT workers have to worry about facing discrimination in their workplace and have no legal remedies. No one in this country should be subjected to discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and the time for action is long past due.”

The lawmakers noted that the government’s top five contractors — Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics — already have adopted the policy, along with the majority of the top 25 contractors, they said.

The lawmakers said at a worksite of the military contractor DynCorp, “one employee was bullied at work and called hateful and derogatory anti-gay slurs on a daily basis.” After more than 50,000 people signed a petition started by a gay rights group called Freedom to Work, the company “agreed to add LGBT protections to its nondiscrimination policies,” the letter said.

Many gay rights groups expressed disappointment with the White House decision not to act now. The Human Rights Campaign, which had called for such an order right after the 2008 election, issued a statement by its president, Joe Solmonese, after he met with Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

“We are extremely disappointed with this decision and will continue to advocate for an executive order from the president,” Solmonese said. “The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being gay or transgender. Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward.”

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council, a contractors group, said in an email to Government Executive, “we support public and private sector employers taking action to ensure that all discrimination in the workplace is eliminated. As the congressional members’ acknowledged, many government contractors are already among the leaders in developing anti-discrimination policies and practices. PSC welcomes a discussion with the Hill and the executive branch in advance of any action being taken so that any unintended consequences can be addressed, but we have not been provided that opportunity yet.”

Stephanie Craig, senior vice president for communications for TechAmerica, said, “our members are equal opportunity employers and do not discriminate in their employment practices whether they are in the government or commercial sectors.”


— by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, April 12, 2012, at http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2012/04/obama-declines-executive-order-contractor-bias/41760.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: anti-discrimination, bias, discrimination, EEO

Popular Topics

abuse acquisition reform acquisition strategy acquisition training acquisition workforce Air Force Army AT&L bid protest budget budget cuts competition cybersecurity DAU DFARS DHS DoD DOJ FAR fraud GAO Georgia Tech GSA GSA Schedule GSA Schedules IG industrial base information technology innovation IT Justice Dept. Navy NDAA OFPP OMB OTA Pentagon procurement reform protest SBA sequestration small business spending technology VA
Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter

Search this Website

Copyright © 2023 · Georgia Tech - Enterprise Innovation Institute