Decades Old Sex Bias Case Reaches End

One of the largest and longest-running employee suits against a federal agency has reached a conclusion with an agreement that more than 1,100 women employees or job applicants of the U.S. Information Agency and Voice of America will share in a $508 million settlement payment. The suit, involving the 1974-1984 period, has been pending in the court system since 1977 and at one point reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which allowed to stand a lower court ruling that women had been subjected to discriminatory hiring and promotional practices. Following mop-up legal actions, payments could go out this autumn. The award is considered the largest ever in an employment discrimination case.