Mastercard has agreed to pay $26 million to settle claims of underpayment of female, Black, and Hispanic employees.
The settlement, disclosed in court documents filed in New York, arises from a class action lawsuit alleging that Mastercard underpaid approximately 7,500 employees nationwide since 2016. The lawsuit asserted that the company routinely assigned employees to positions below their pay grade and compensated them less than their white counterparts who performed similar roles.
As part of the settlement, Mastercard will also carry out annual pay equity audits for the next three years and hire a psychologist to evaluate biases within its workplace. A spokesperson for Mastercard stated that while the company strongly denied the allegations, it determined that settling was in the best interest of everyone involved.