Salomon Smith Barney agreed to shell out $635,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to Dow Jones News Service.
Salomon settled the lawsuit “without admitting any unlawful conduct,” according to the wire service, citing a statement that Salomon sent to its employees Friday.
The suit, filed in September, alleged that Salomon discriminated against some Haitian, Nigerian and West Indian workers at its data center on Greenwich Street in Manhattan. According to the suit, Salomon paid the employees lower wages, denied them salary increases and promotions, and subjected them to offensive jokes by supervisors.
The EEOC filed the suit in September on behalf of five employees as well as a class of “similarly situated” individuals. Under the agreement, Salomon agreed to treat more fairly four of the workers who remain employed as computer operators at the data center, according to Dow Jones.
Salomon also will develop criteria for the promotion of other computer operators, reports the wire service. Solly also must maintain a policy prohibiting discrimination and a procedure for employees to report discrimination complaints, Dow Jones adds.
All managers and supervisors in the data center are required to undergo equal employment opportunity training, and Salomon is required to provide written reports to the EEOC, the report adds.