Vanguard settles suit alleging bias

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, March, 2008 | by Jane M. Von Bergen Inquirer Staff Writer

Vanguard Group has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by a black former information systems manager for the Malvern mutual-fund company. In the consent decree announced today, Vanguard did not admit guilt. The federal suit was brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2004.

Vanguard spokesman John Woerth said the company is committed to providing a workplace that is free from unlawful retaliation and discrimination. Raymond Ross of Maple Glen went to work at Vanguard in 1993 and had been promoted steadily. In 2002, he was transferred to a new department. When he complained that he was given "inadequate" work assignments because of his race, no action was taken, and his work was subject to more scrutiny, the lawsuit said. It...