On Jan. 14, Mastercard, a credit card company with roughly 32,000 employees globally (after last year’s layoffs), agreed to a $26 million class action settlement in a race and gender discrimination lawsuit, two years after negotiations began.
The company was accused of underpaying 7,500 female, Black, and Hispanic US employees compared to their male and white colleagues doing the same work, the New York Times reported. The lawsuit, filed by four former employees, alleged discriminatory hiring and advancement practices, including giving underrepresented workers lower-paying jobs for which they were overqualified, and fewer raises and promotions than their white, male counterparts, Reuters reported.
Investigators who interviewed employees and reviewed internal HR documents found evidence of bias, according to Dow Jones.
Mastercard maintains that it did not discriminate against workers. “It is in the best interest of all involved to bring this matter to a close,” Seth Eisen, SVP of communications at Mastercard, told the Times. But it has agreed to hire a psychologist to identify bias at Mastercard, and will conduct pay equity audits moving forward.
“We think it’s a good resolution for the clients, and we think it provides a framework for other companies in the industry to improve their practices with respect to pay equity,” Cara Greene, a lawyer at Outten & Golden, who is representing the former employees, told the Times.
The settlement is awaiting approval by the US District Court of Southern New York.
This report was originally published by HR Brew.