On Jan. 14, Mastercard, a credit card company with roughly 32,000 employees globally (after last year’s layoffs), agreed to a $26 million class action settlement in a race and gender discrimination lawsuit, two years after negotiations began.
The company was accused of underpaying 7,500 female, Black, and Hispanic US employees compared to their male and white colleagues doing the same work, the New York Times reported. The lawsuit, filed by four former employees, alleged discriminatory hiring and advancement practices, including giving underrepresented workers lower-paying jobs for which they were overqualified, and fewer raises and promotions than their white, male counterparts, Reuters reported.
