DOL Settlement Agreement Involves Cintas' Piscataway Facility

PISCATAWAY, NJ —A nationally-known uniform company, Cintas Corp., that has a warehouse in Piscataway was ordered last week to pay $424,463 in back pay and interest to resolve hiring and pay discrimination allegations against 197 applicants and employees.

The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Cintas, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, in January 2017, alleging that the company committed hiring and compensation discrimination.

However, the allegations of discrimination (against female production employees; black and male applicants for garment inspector/hanger positions and minority applicants for service sales representative positions) do not relate in any way to the facility in Piscataway.

All of those allegations were part of a lawsuit that was filed against a single Cintas facility in Philadelphia. The lawsuit was resolved through a consent decree.

Under the consent decree, Cintas Corp. is required to pay $354,463 in back pay and interest to the compensation class members and $70,000 in back pay and interest to the hiring class members. In addition to paying back wages and interest, the settlement requires the company to provide job opportunities to two eligible applicants and revise and monitor its hiring and compensation processes.

As a federal contractor, Cintas is routinely audited for compliance at all their facilities nationwide. In addition to the consent decree in the Philadelphia case, Cintas entered into a voluntary settlement agreement to resolve five remaining open audits – one of which involved the facility in Piscataway.

As part of the agreement with the federal government, Cintas said they will be reviewing their conduct at the following rental facilities: Location #62 in Piscataway, New Jersey; Location #111 in Union, New Jersey; Location #780 in Central Islip, New York; Location #756 in Cumberland/Providence, Rhode Island; and Location #543 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Cintas Corp. provides uniform and apparel, facility services, commercial services, first aid, fire protection, document management, and operates more than 430 facilities worldwide. Cintas Corp.’s facility #425 in Philadelphia focuses on the rental, cleaning, and embroidery of uniforms and apparel.

Editor's Note: Patch initially implied the wage and hiring discrimination occurred at Cintas' Piscataway facility. That is incorrect. We regret the error.