Walgreen to pay out $24 million discrimination settlement
U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy has approved Walgreen’s offer to make a $24 million settlement for a class action suit alleging racial discrimination in its employment practices.
America’s largest drugstore chain will pay approximately 10,000 African American current and former employees.
Walgreen has 230,000 workers in its 6,237 stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico, Bruce said.
It was only last March that 14 African American past and present employees filed the class action lawsuit. The charges were that the Deerfield, Illinois-based company showed bias when making employment and assignment decisions. African American managers, management trainees and pharmacists were posted to low-performing stores and to shops in black neighborhoods, which in turn prevented them from receiving promotions.
The ruling also includes hiring external consultants to review and recommend standardized, non-discriminatory promotion criterion and store assignment procedures.
However, Walgreen still does not admit to doing any wrong. Since July 2007, the chain has been implementing the ruling’s requirements.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a California-based law firm will oversee Walgreen’s observance of the decree, with Murphy presiding over jurisdiction for the next five years, according the EEOC.
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