The Eau Claire-based Menards home improvement chain has agreed to settle a race discrimination case for $1 million, according to a report in the Associated Press.
The settlement, recently approved by a Chicago arbitrator, affects about 700 managers and assistant managers who claim they were passed over for promotions. Later this month, the plaintiffs will be able to start filing claims for their share of the settlement.
The case began in 2004 when three former Menards employees filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Menards has denied any wrongdoing. Company spokesman Jeff Abbott said the company chose to settle so that it could devote its resources to more productive purposes. He called the settlement “a wise business decision.”
