New Jersey Trade School to Hire Ombuds in EEOC Settlement

The apprenticeship school affiliated with the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee of Sheet Metal Workers Local 25 will pay a fine and adopt other anti-discriminatory measures, including an Ombuds, in settlement of a suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

According to a press release from the agency the settlement, "requires the JATC to appoint an ombudsperson to investigate complaints of bias brought by apprentices regarding classroom instruction, access to on-the-job opportunities, and any other aspect of the apprenticeship process." The EEOC had charged that the union's school had discharged a black apprentice because of his race just two weeks before he was to graduate from the four-year apprenticeship program. No other details of the new Ombuds program were provided. (EEOC Press Release.)

If past is precedent, this new Ombuds will be a phantom.

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