A class-action discrimination lawsuit by Social Security Administration employees against the administration has been approved for $22.7 million, Newsweek reported.
The settlement was approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and will be distributed to thousands of employees who claim they were discriminated against by a bonus system at the administration, Newsweek said.
The lawsuit claimed SSA discriminated against Black men by giving them fewer awards and less valuable monetary awards, according to the settlement agreement obtained by Newsweek.
"The African American male employees alleged that they were treated disfavorably in the system, that they got fewer awards than they deserved, and then when they got awards, they were lower-value awards than other people received," Jeremy Wright told Newsweek.
As part of the settlement, SSA agreed to monitor the demographics of how monetary rewards were distributed to prevent future discrimination, according to Newsweek.
The case was initially filed in 2007 and the settlement was finalized last year, Newsweek reported. About 2,800 people are eligible for the settlement, Wright told Newsweek.
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