ALJ demolishes OFCCP’s pay analysis in 4-year-long Oracle case

For the past four years, Oracle Corporation and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) have been locked in litigation over claims—filed in the Obama administration’s final days—that the tech company had engaged in pay discrimination against women and minorities. On September 22, 2020, a DOL administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled against the OFCCP across the board, finding no evidence of discrimination.

Judge’s findings

ALJ Richard M. Clark noted the OFCCP’s statistical evidence against Oracle was deficient and “not suggestive of widespread discrimination by the alleged wrongdoers.” He added the agency couldn’t support its allegation that the company’s executives knew about, hid, or ignored widespread disparities. Specifically, he found the company:

• Didn’t engage in intentional compensation discrimination based on race or gender;
• Didn’t have a policy or practice of relying on previous pay in setting employees’ salaries; and
• Didn’t engage in assignment, job classification, or steering discrimination at its headquarters facility.

After Judge Clark’s decision, Oracle’s general counsel, Dorian Daley, said the company had “been subject to years of harassment by [DOL] employees with no evidence of discrimination whatsoever” and that “[t]his case never should have been brought in the first place.”