R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. will pay $15 million to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by black workers at a now-closed Chicago plant, according to wire service reports.
The workers claimed the printing giant, permitted a work environment that was hostile to blacks and included claims nooses and Ku Klux Klan costumes were used to intimidate workers.
In addition, about 600 black workers accused Donnelley of discriminating through its hiring practices and the way it shut down its Lakeside Press facility. Donnelley denied these charges.
In 2002, the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the plaintiffs waited too long to file their complaint. However, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that ruling earlier this year, allowing the case to go forward, saying civil rights plaintiffs can wait as long as four years before suing.
In the settlement Donnelley admitted no wrongdoing.
Network
