ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 8, 1996 TAG: 9611080055
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chevron said it has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges it discriminated against hundreds of women in pay, promotions and assignments.
The proposed settlement must be approved by a Superior Court judge at a Jan. 21 hearing.
The closely watched sex-discrimination suit follows last year's $2.2 million out-of-court settlement on related sexual harassment claims at Chevron Information Technology Co., a San Ramon-based operating unit of Chevron Corp. That settlement - shared by four women computer specialists - was one of the largest in a harassment case against a major corporation.
The class-action discrimination claim involved 777 current and former female CITC employees. The lawsuit said Chevron routinely passed over qualified women for promotions and gave male counterparts salaries as much as $80,000 higher.
Ellen Bravo, executive director of 9to5, The National Association of Working women, said the settlement was a victory not only for the women. ``Paired with the Texaco incident, it reminds us that discrimination is alive and well in America's corporations even in its most blatant forms.''
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB