Vanguard Group Settles EEOC Lawsuit Alleging Racial Bias

Vanguard Group Inc agreed on Monday to pay $300,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") lawsuit accusing it of racial bias in hiring. In a Sept. 29 complaint, the EEOC alleged that Vanguard decided not to hire Barbara Alexander as a financial planning manager because she was black even after she was told throughout the hiring process, including at roughly 13 in-person interviews, that she was qualified for the job. Despite Alexander's 14 years of financial management experience and master's degree in finance, Vanguard instead offered the Charlotte, North Carolina job to two less qualified white men, and one accepted, the EEOC said. According to papers filed Monday with the federal court in Philadelphia, Vanguard will pay the $300,000 to Alexander, and entered a two-year consent decree calling for greater anti-discrimination training for managers and supervisors, and other remedies. It did not admit liability. The case is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Vanguard Group Inc, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 09-04424.