Mastercard Inc. has agreed to settle a proposed class and collective action lawsuit for $26 million, addressing allegations of sex, gender, race, and ethnicity-based employment discrimination. The settlement, filed Tuesday in New York federal court, resolves claims that Mastercard underpaid thousands of female, Black, and Hispanic employees.
While Mastercard denied any wrongdoing, it agreed to the settlement following an investigation into the claims and months of negotiations, including three days of mediation. The plaintiffs, including Deborah Hayman, G.A. Gomes, L. Kasomo, and S. Brown, sought the court’s preliminary approval of the settlement, which they said includes “significant benefits” for class members and aims to ensure a fair and equitable hiring process for underrepresented groups across the company.
The settlement class encompasses approximately 7,500 employees who worked for Mastercard since 2016. These employees will receive backpay and other damages based on their length of employment. Additionally, Mastercard has committed to implementing policies to promote gender and race pay equity, including hiring an industrial organizational psychology specialist to review its “career ecosystem.”
