On November 29, 2001, five black individuals filed a class action complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) alleging that their employer, the Kroger Co. discriminated against them on account of their race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C § 1981.

On June 24, 2008, Justice Thomas B. Russell of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Louisville) signed a consent decree, certifying a class defined as all part-time and full-time African-American employees in Kroger Banner stores in all hourly positions and store managerial salaried positions, from manager trainee up through and including zone managers, who were employed at any time from November 29, 1997 until the date of the preliminary approval of the consent decree (6/17/2008).

In the settlement, Kroger agreed to pay $16 million into a fund to be dispersed to class members as compensatory damages for their lost wages (with interest) based on their length of employment. The consent decree further required Kroger to monitor the hourly starting pay and adjustments managers may make for "experience credits." Additionally, Kroger agreed to provide promotion and salary data to the plaintiffs' attorneys annually to ensure the starting pay is "objective and non-discriminatory".

David Miller - 04/14/2010


compress summary