U.S. Sues Boeing Over Access to Documents

The Labor Department sued aerospace giant Boeing Co. seeking access to documents linked to a race discrimination complaint. The department said it had filed three suits alleging that Boeing denied its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs access to facilities and records in Seattle, as well as in Wichita, Kan., and Mesa, Ariz. The company’s Arizona and Kansas facilities were scheduled for routine compliance reviews regarding affirmative action and nondiscrimination requirements of federal contractors. In Seattle, the department was trying to investigate a complaint of race discrimination filed by an employee. Boeing said it had cooperated with the Labor Department on a number of audits and investigations. “To the extent that Boeing has withheld data from the agency, it has done so based on its good-faith belief that the request is either unreasonable or exceeds the scope of the OFCCP’s authority,” spokesman Peter Conte said. Conte said Seattle-based Boeing hoped to resolve these issues informally with the OFCCP.