$65 Million Settlement Announced in Gender Discrimination Class Action Against Home Depot U.S.A. Inc.SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 1997--Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million to a class of women in order to settle a class action gender discrimination case involving over 25,000 women who are working or have worked in, or applied to, its West Coast Division stores. In addition, the Company will pay $22.5 million in attorneys' fees and expenses to the lawyers for the Class. The class action alleged that Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box discriminated against women in hiring for sales and management positions, job assignments, promotions and compensation in Home Depot's West Coast Division stores. The suit was filed in December 1994 by Lieff, Cabraser, Heitmann & Bernstein, LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Calif., and Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak & Baller of Oakland, Calif. Home Depot, a Fortune 500 retailer that sells home improvement products, operates over 140 stores in its West Coast Division, which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Home Depot's West Coast Division stores employ approximately 8000 women out of a total West Coast work force of 25,000. Women who can present meritorious mer·i·to·ri·ous adj. Deserving reward or praise; having merit. [Middle English, from Latin merit claims and who were employed in, or applied to, Home Depot's West Coast Division stores between Nov. 5, 1992 and Sept. 22, 1997, are eligible to file a claim form in a procedure that will determine the distribution of the monetary settlement. Payments to eligible female class members are expected to be made within one year. In addition to providing monetary relief, Home Depot agrees to create a system by which employees may formally register their interest in moving to sales and management positions in Home Depot's West Coast Division stores, to continue to develop and implement training for managers and supervisors regarding equal employment opportunity, to refine its internal complaint procedure to address and resolve complaints of gender discrimination, and to provide self-study product knowledge training. The settlement is expected to remain in effect for five years. The settlement is subject to Court approval. The parties intend to submit the proposed Consent Decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. to the Court for preliminary approval early next week. "This case was able to be resolved because Home Depot acted responsibly by demonstrating a willingness to take a hard look at, and refine, its employment practices to further ensure equal opportunities for all of its employees in its West Coast Division stores," said James M. Finberg of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, one of the two firms serving as lead counsel for Plaintiffs. "The changes Home Depot agreed to will make it an even better place to work." "We are pleased by Home Depot's cooperation in resolving this litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. and its willingness to apply voluntarily the terms on a national basis. This settlement will enhance Home Depot's ability to compete in the future," said co-lead counsel Mike Baller. In recent years, Lief, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP has served s lead counsel in many major class actions, including the $1 billion Masonite defective defective adj. not being capable of fulfilling its function, ranging from a deed of land to a piece of equipment. (See: defect, defective title) hardboard hardboard: see composition board. siding settlement, the $950 million defective polybutylene pipe settlement, the $475 million Louisiana Pacific defective Inner-Seal siding settlement, the $180 million General Chemical Co. toxic release settlement, the $80 million Unocal toxic release settlement, the $21 million Cordis defective pacemaker pacemaker Source of rhythmic electrical impulses that trigger heart contractions. In the heart's electrical system, impulses generated at a natural pacemaker are conducted to the atria and ventricles. settlement, and the $13.5 million Consolidated Freightways Consolidated Freight was the 3rd biggest trucking company in the US. In the 1930s they started their own truck manufacturing operation, Freightliner, now part of DaimlerChrysler. age discrimination settlement. Lieff, Cabraser has also played a major role in the Exxon Valdez This article is about the tank vessel Exxon Valdez. For the spill, see Exxon Valdez oil spill. Exxon Valdez was the original name (later Sea River Mediterranean and eventually Mediterranean , breast implant breast implant, saline- or silicone-filled prosthesis used after mastectomy as a part of the breast reconstruction process or used cosmetically to augment small breasts. and tobacco litigation. Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak & Baller has successfully handled a number of discrimination cases against large employers, including the $250 million gender discrimination case against State Farm Insurance, the $132.5 million race discrimination case against Shoney's Restaurants, an approximately $80 million gender discrimination case against Lucky's Grocery Stores, an $81.5 million Publix Grocery Store settlement and the $29.5 million race and gender discrimination case against Albertson's Grocery Stores. The firm also settled a $34.8 million race discrimination case on behalf of African-American customers of Denny's Restaurants in California. CONTACT: Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP James M. Finberg, 415/956-1000 or Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak & Baller Morris J. Baller, 510/763-9800 |
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