The U.S. Labor Department has settled claims against the New York-based information technology services firm Advance 2000 Inc., sued by the agency division that polices federal contractors.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs filed claims in October against Advance, alleging the company violated a 2015 federal agreement by failing to submit required progress reports and failing to respond to the agency's notice of violation.

A Labor Department administrative law judge on Jan. 29 approved a consent decree, resolving the contract compliance program's case.

The complaint against Advance was the first that the contract compliance program filed in the Trump administration. The office is now under the leadership of Ondray Harris, a former LeClairRyan partner and U.S. Justice Department supervisor in the employment litigation section of the Civil Rights Division. Former Kirkland & Ellis partner Kate O'Scannlain, now the Labor Department solicitor, oversees the agency's litigation.

Labor and management lawyers are closely watching the contract compliance division for clues to any new enforcement priorities. The details of the consent order between the Labor Department and Advance were not immediately available. The Labor Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The contract office has several big suits and investigations open—including cases that involve Google Inc., Oracle America Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A team from Proskauer Rose, commenting on the complaint after it was filed, said in a blog post: “The Complaint is significant in that it is the first action brought by the OFCCP against a federal contractor since President Trump took office. That being said, the Complaint does little to illuminate the administrative enforcement priorities of the Trump OFCCP.”

The attorneys said that such a matter, a dispute over compliance with an earlier agreement, would have likely been pursued under any administration. And the Proskauer team said the Labor Department's complaint highlights a common issue that high compliance costs could discourage small businesses from government contracting.

“The government has historically encouraged small businesses, which often include minority- and women-owned businesses, to participate in government contracting,” the Proskauer lawyers wrote. “However, the personnel and financial burdens of complying often favor larger institutional government contractors, which already have a substantial compliance program in place.”

Advance's chief executive, Brian Maouad, did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday. Maouad previously told Bloomberg BNA that the company would address the alleged problems the Labor Department flagged but otherwise planned to not seek any more federal contracts.

“We're not a very big company,” Maouad told BNA. “These were our first federal contracts, the margins were so small, and it took forever to get paid.”

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