Nash Finch to pay back wages in sex discrimination settlement

The agreement, which was announced Friday, ends a gender discrimination complaint filed in November 2010 by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The complaint alleged that Nash Finch failed to give equal consideration to qualified women who applied for jobs as order selectors during a nine-month period in 2006.

Under the settlement, the company will pay $188,500 in back wages and interest, and extend job offers to as many as 12 of the original female applicants.

Based in Minneapolis, Nash Finch is the second-largest publicly traded wholesale food distributor in the nation. It has received more than $14 million in federal contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide goods and services to military bases in the U.S. and abroad.