Settlements of Recent Significance

Although the Mitsubishi settlement set records, it is not the only case to have been settled recently. Other noteworthy settlements in sexual harassment litigation include the following:

• In what was a record-setting settlement at the time, Astra USA, a U.S. subsidiary of a Swedish pharmaceutical company, agreed Feb. 5 to pay $10 million to settle allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the firm (EEOC v. Astra USA Inc., C.D. Mass., No.98-40014, 2/5/98).

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• Female dock workers agreed to settle a sex discrimination class action for $1.9 million against shippers and unions accused of discriminating against women in work assignments, promotions, and training opportunities, and for allowing sexual harassment by male co-workers and supervisors (Scott v. International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 23, C.D. Wash., No.C97-5411FDB, 12/19/97).

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• A Long Island, N.Y., insurance brokerage will pay $1.2 million to current and former employees under a consent decree reached with the EEOC and filed in court May 28 (EEOC v.BWD Group Ltd., E.D. N.Y., No. CV 97-2617, 5/28/98).

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• In a settlement of sex discrimination allegations at Merrill Lynch & Co. announced May 6, any women employed by the firm's domestic retail brokerage business since Jan.1,1994, will be able to seek compensation under a specially created "Claims Resolution Process." An attorney involved in the litigation said the brokerage firm is likely to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in claims (Cremins v. Merrill Lynch & Co., N.D. Ill., No. 96-3373, 5/6/98).

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