Sodexho to Settle for $80M in Racial Bias Case

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Apr 28 - Up to 3,000 current and former African American employees of Sodexho Inc., and its predecessor, Sodexho Marriott Services Inc., stand to receive part of an $80 million settlement of a class action lawsuit announced Wednesday.

The suit, filed in March 2001, accused the food and facilities management company of discriminating against black workers in violation of the 1965 Civil Rights Act, by disproportionately passing them up for promotions to upper management positions. Ten original plaintiffs claimed that most Sodexho managerial openings are filled without job postings; that the selection process favors white workers because it is carried out primarily by white decision-makers; that candidates are selected without job-related or objective criteria; and that the company does not require managers to document their reasons.

The announcement came just one day before jury selection was scheduled in US District Court in Washington.

The settlement, once a federal judge approves it, would be one of the largest race-related job bias settlements in recent years, the Associated Press reports.

Sodexho admitted no wrongdoing in the case.