Oracle Files Lawsuit against Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia and Department of Labor plus OFCCP and OFCCP Director Craig Leen Challenging the Unauthorized U.S. Department of Labor Enforcement and Adjudicative Regime

Oracle today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. challenging the legality of the system of enforcement and adjudication established by the U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) for discrimination claims against government contractors. The complaint alleges that this system was not authorized by Congress or the President and contravenes statutory authorities. 

Oracle’s complaint states that under the current system, claims against government contractors are not prosecuted in federal courts with a federal jury. Instead, the Department of Labor itself serves as investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and appellate court, usurping the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Justice and the Courts.

“Oracle filed this case because it is being subjected to an unlawful enforcement action by the Labor Department utilizing a process with no statutory foundation whatsoever,” said Ken Glueck, executive vice president, Oracle.

Congress expressly declined to give agencies, such as EEOC, the broad and unfettered authority that the Department of Labor has assumed for itself to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate lawsuits entirely in-house. This system violates the U.S. Constitution and acts of Congress, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.

Oracle recognizes the vital importance of a lawful system that investigates and prosecutes discrimination by employers, including government contractors. But the existing extra-statutory Department of Labor process results in arbitrary enforcement actions against the many employers who qualify as federal contractors, often with no evidentiary foundation and designed to do nothing more than extort concessions under a system lacking any semblance of due process. 

“It is apparent that neither Solicitor of Labor Kate O’Scannlain nor OFCCP Director Craig Leen is prepared to move back to a system where merits trump optics. Oracle brings this suit because the leadership at the Department of Labor has failed to restore balance to an unrestrained bureaucracy,” said Glueck.

“We believe strongly in maintaining a level playing field in the workplace for all of our employees and remain proud of our firm commitment to equality in our workforce. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that employers such as Oracle are likewise entitled to a level playing field when the government asserts claims of discrimination. That has not been the case with the OFCCP, resulting in enforcement actions that are meritless and defamatory to Oracle, its executives, and other government contractors,” said Glueck

In addition to today’s lawsuit, Oracle fully intends to defend itself against the Department of Labor’s baseless enforcement action set to begin trial on December 5. The government’s case rests on false allegations, cherry-picked statistics, and erroneous and radical theories of the law. The Labor Department’s nonsensical claims underscore the need for the federal courts to declare the Department of Labor’s current enforcement system unconstitutional.