The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service announced Tuesday the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2000 that alleged more than 100 black Secret Service agents were routinely passed over for promotions in favor of less-qualified white agents.
As part of the deal, the agency, which admits to no wrongdoing or institutional bias and “denies any and all liability or damages,” acknowledged the agreement serves as a means of “resolving this almost two-decades-old matter.”
The agents will split $24 million, with payments as high as $300,000 each to the original eight plaintiffs, The Washington Post reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement issued this week that he is “pleased that we are able to finally put this chapter of Secret Service history behind us.”
