LinkedIn is on the hook for $1.8 million for alleged gender bias

LinkedIn will pay $1.8 million and take other steps to resolve DOL allegations that it engaged in systemic gender-based pay discrimination at two of its California facilities.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs conducted a routine compliance evaluation.

After doing so, it found that for a two-year period beginning at the start of March of 2015, LinkedIn did not comply with Executive Order 11246.

Among other things, that order bans federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of a number of protected categories, including sex.

According to the OFCCP, LinkedIn violated the order in that it did not equally pay some females in its engineering, marketing and product job groups at its facilities in San Francisco and Sunnyvale.

Agreement Ends Matter

To resolve the allegations, the parties entered into a conciliation agreement.

In addition to paying $1.8 million, LinkedIn agreed to conduct staff training to ensure compliance with its non-bias obligations.

In addition, for the next three years it will evaluate whether its compensation practices are gender neutral and will make any adjustments that are needed.

It will also revise its compensation policies and practices to ensure compliance with applicable legal requirements.

A total of 686 employees will benefit from the agreement.

Tom D'Agostino

Tom D’Agostino is an attorney and legal editor who has more than 30 years of experience writing about employment law, disability law and education law trends. He earned his B.A. degree from Ramapo College of New Jersey and his J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law. D’Agostino, who is a member of the Pennsylvania bar, is a past member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities and the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Legal Services to Persons with Disabilities Committee. He has provided technical assistance in the production of segments for television’s ABC World News and 20/20, and he has been quoted in periodicals including USA Today. He is also a past contributing author of Legal Rights of Persons with Disabilities: An Analysis of Federal Law, which is a comprehensive twovolume treatise addressing the legal rights of people with disabilities. Tom is passionate about baseball and authentic Italian food. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with family.