Oracle is sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for practising discriminatory employment practices. The government body announced on Wednesday that the company applies "a systemic practice" of paying white male workers over the others who are committed to the same job role, including women, African American, and Asian employees.
The lawsuit also alleged Oracle of being in favour of Asian workers when it comes to the recruitment of technical and product centric roles. The underlying unfairness of hiring practices against non-Asian job seekers applying for these roles resulted in another boat of discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Labor had a valid reason for filing the lawsuit. As a federal contracter that provides services, software and hardware to the U.S. government, companies like Oracle are required to maintain equitability and fairness in recruitment practices. However, the company seems to be acting in contrary to the requirements and violates the embedded values of workplace fairness of the industry within which it operates in.
"The complaint is politically motivated, based on false allegations, and wholly without merit. Oracle values diversity and inclusion, and is a responsible equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Our hiring and pay decisions are non-discriminatory and made based on legitimate business factors including experience and merit," the company mentioned in a detailed statement in reply to the allegation, denying the lawsuit.
Oracle's defense of itself against the lawsuit in saying that it is "politically motivated" could be an indirect reference to the appointment of its co-CEO Safra Catz to be a part of Donald Trump's presidential transition team, which was announced in December.
Oracle will be faced with the termination of all current government contracts, as well as a ban on receiving future contracts from the federal government if it is found committed to wrongdoing in this case.
