‘Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee’—Except the OFCCP

Remember that old commercial “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee”? Remember when Moms in the June Cleaver era made a cooked breakfast every morning for their families?

Guess the folks at the Sara Lee Food and Beverage factory in Florence, Alabama, now Hillshire Brands, remembered because they are in hot water with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. It seems that 98 percent of workers hired to assemble breakfast biscuit sandwiches were female, while 99 percent of the positions—to stack and dispose of supplies for the sandwiches—were filled by males.

Can you say “gender discrimination”? Yes, claims were filed with the agency since the company had over $14 million in government contracts to the Defense Commissary Agency.

“There’s nothing particularly feminine about assembling a breakfast sandwich,” said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu in a press release. “Stereotypes about ‘women’s work’ and ‘men’s work’ become harmful when they stand between qualified workers and good job opportunities.”

The OFCCP determined Hillshire violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating against 2,474 men who had applied for semiskilled jobs at the plant.

Under the agreement, Hillshire will resolve the systemic hiring discrimination through hiring process changes and training and pay $330,000 in back wages, interest, and benefits to these rejected male applicants.