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The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating allegations that Glendale Federal Savings & Loan, in a report to the government, deliberately understated the number of women and minority employees who, compared to white males, were underpaid.
The investigation, begun this month by the department's Los Angeles Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, was prompted by a complaint from the company's former affirmative-action officer.
Interviews and government memoranda show the inquiry, expected to take at least two months, is the culmination of a two-year dispute between the company and the government over hiring and promotion practices at the thrift association's 217 branches.
Glendale Federal officials deny the charges and say they have never knowingly provided false information to any regulatory agency. They confirmed that the savings and loan is under investigation but would not discuss the subject in detail.
According to federal officials, this will be an unusually detailed investigation. Five investigators from the Van Nuys office of the compliance agency are interviewing employees at Glendale Federal and examining personnel data.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires federal contractors to prepare and follow plans for the hiring and promotion of women and members of minority groups. Savings and loans, because they dispense savings bonds and are involved in the sale of U.S. Treasury certificates, are considered federal contractors.
Allegations Made in Letter
Investigators review corporate personnel and hiring profiles every three years but, because of staffing limitations, usually rely on data that corporations supply. In a letter that his lawyer sent to federal investigators, Jack Clayter, the former Glendale Federal affirmative-action officer, claimed that officials at the thrift "passed its audit by submitting false and misleading statistics."
Clayter's job was to mediate among corporate officials, federal affirmative-action investigators and minority employees. Glendale Federal officials asked him in July, 1986,...