A staffing firm and three client companies agreed to settle a lawsuit by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to resolve allegations of gender discrimination in the hiring of temporary workers.

The companies will take steps to prevent future discrimination when hiring and pay civil penalties totaling $280,000 as part of consent decrees filed Thursday, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Companies named in the consent decrees include staffing firm Alternative Staffing Inc. of Cicero, Illinois, and its associated entity Resource Management Group Inc. as well as client companies Fibre Drum Sales Inc.; DSI Holdings Corp., doing business as Service Master; and Amylu Foods LLC.

“The companies seeking to hire workers based on sex — not qualifications — barely attempt to hide their discriminatory hiring practices because such discrimination is almost commonplace within the temporary staffing industry,” Raoul said. “I am committed to taking action to stop pervasive discrimination in the temporary staffing industry because Illinois workers should have equal opportunities for employment and not be subject to discrimination in the workplace.”

The Attorney General’s lawsuit alleged the companies made some positions open only to men and others only to women, regardless of whether workers could perform the duties of each position.

Raoul said it’s known that some client firms use staffing agencies to segregate workers by gender and sometimes use codes such as “heavies” or “lights” to signify men or women, respectively. Such practices can result in an underrepresentation of women in the workforce or women being tied to lower-paying positions.

The consent degrees aim to eliminate this discrimination and call for the companies to conduct annual reviews of position descriptions to ensure hiring requests are tailored to the needs of each position and do not discriminate on the basis of gender. They also call for the companies to provide training to internal workers, establish a complaint hotline and increase recordkeeping as well as file regular reports with the attorney general’s office.