Bank of America has paid the largest amount of disclosed discrimination penalties, with $210 million in settlements since 2000, followed by Coca-Cola, Novartis , Morgan Stanley and Abercrombie & Fitch. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Virtually all of the Fortune 500 companies and other major employers have paid for claims of employment discrimination or harassment since 2000 — with banks and retailers disclosing the most penalties, according to the Good Jobs First report, "Big Business Bias-Employment Discrimination and Sexual Harassment at Large Corporations."
|$2.7B in penalties
While most of the lawsuits ended in confidential settlements, Good Jobs First was able to examine cases with disclosed verdicts or settlements, and found that 189 Fortune 500 companies have paid $1.9 billion in penalties. Of those, $356 million in 238 cases were resolved by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, $65 million in 85 cases were handled by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and $1.5 billion involved 176 private lawsuits.
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Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
