Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar agreed to pay $800,000 to settle allegations it discriminated against Black job seekers at a factory in Illinois, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday. The money will cover back wages and interest to 60 people who were allegedly rejected due to their race when they applied to work as welders at the plant in Decatur from March 30, 2018, to March 30, 2020. Caterpillar will also offer jobs to 34 of them, the Labor Department said. The publicly held company didn’t admit any wrongdoing and said in a prepared statement that the allegations and settlement “a…
