An Orem company has agreed to pay more than $157,000 to settle federal claims that it discriminated against job applicants who were not Pacific Islanders.

As part of the "conciliation agreement," Mity-Lite Inc. will divide $157,228 in back pay and interest among 685 white and non-Pacific Islander ethnic minority applicants who were not hired. The next 18 positions that come open in the company will be filled from among their ranks.

Mity-Lite provides plastic chairs, tables, podiums and related products. Among its customers is the federal government, which led to a compliance audit to ensure it was following federal employment rules. The investigation looked at hiring practices from April 2005 to December 2006.

CEO Randy Hales said Thursday that the investigation began well before the current owners bought the company in July 2007. "As new owners, rather than get into a protracted battle with the Department of Labor, (we) agreed to settle and get this put behind the company," he said.

Hales estimates that roughly a dozen Pacific Islanders work there, out of 250 employees. As often happens, he noted, there were a number of employees working on the production team who recommended that their friends and family members interview and some of them were hired.

But the number is proportionately high for the community, according to the federal audit.

"The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that all Americans are hired, promoted and compensated fairly, without respect to their race, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion or veteran status," said Melissa L. Speer, acting regional director of the department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs for the Southwest and Rocky Mountain region. "This settlement should put all federal contractors on notice that the department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination."

Speer said the amount of relief sought by the government is determined by a formula.

The company also has agreed to self-monitoring steps to be sure all hiring practices are in step with the law and to correct any problems that are found. It will also follow specific record-keeping requirements.