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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gx5fH-r7_bpopkrGdcz_FWvfyb9QD9I0MBL81
KODAK TO PAY OUT $ 19M TO SETTLE RACE BASED LAWSUIT
ROCHESTER,
N.Y. — A federal judge on Friday approved Eastman Kodak Co.’s $21.4
million offer to settle class-action lawsuits by black employees who
maintained white counterparts were favored over them for pay and
promotion.In an almost seven-year legal tussle, U.S. Magistrate Jonathan
Feldman signed off on a deal that pays about 3,000 current and past
Kodak workers amounts ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. The decision ends a
2004 class-action lawsuit and a similar suit filed by other black
workers in 2007.The Rochester, N.Y.-based photography products
maker was accused of paying black employees less than white co-workers,
passing them over for promotions and maintaining a racially hostile work
environment.Last October, Feldman heard arguments in favor of the deal
from Kodak and lawyers for the plaintiffs. He then fielded complaints
from more than a dozen former employees who said proposed payouts were
inadequate, lawyer fees too high and the offer unfairly excluded workers
who left Kodak before 1999.Under the settlement, 3,008 workers
get $9.65 million and their lawyers $9.7 million in fees and expenses.
Adjustments to individual awards were negotiated, with a dozen workers
having $75,000 awards reduced by one-third.The balance of the settlement
will go to administering the claims and supporting enhanced diversity
training for supervisors that Kodak promised as part of the deal. The
company will also hire an industrial psychologist and two labor
statisticians to review pay and promotion policies and recommend
improvements.In a statement, Kodak said the settlement
“represents a resolution of mutual interest and it absolutely does not
suggest any wrongdoing” on the company’s part.”Kodak is widely
recognized as a company committed to creating and maintaining an
inclusive workplace in which all employees are valued, treated fairly
and can contribute to their full potential,” it added.The judge
noted that a Kodak damage expert, Harvard University Professor David
Bloom, analyzed historical payroll data and concluded “there were no
race-based disparities in promotion and compensation at Kodak between
1999 and 2005 and African-Americans were, in fact, statistically favored
in promotion and base salary increases during the 1999-2005 time
period.””These risks and others make the fairness of the settlement all
the more evident and weigh in favor of approving the settlement
agreement,” the judge said in a 59-page decision.
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