Cohen Milstein represented a group of about 29,000 female employees who had claims of sex discrimination against The Boeing Company, Inc.  The certified claims address discrimination in compensation for salaried employees, access to overtime work for hourly IAM employees, and promotions for both.  In granting class certification, the court noted that “the data yields statistically significant results of adverse impact on female employees in every facility and at every level within the Puget sound area.”

Case Background

Originally filed on February 25, 2000, before the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, the parties reached an agreement on July 16, 2004 just before trial. Under the terms of the settlement, Boeing agreed to pay between $40.6 million and $72.5 million, which will be divided among named plaintiffs, other members of the class, class attorneys and administrative expenses. The settlement calls on Boeing to change the way it determines starting salaries, modify its performance evaluation systems, and monitor salaries to reduce the risk of gender wage discrimination reappearing.

Case name: Beck, et al. v. Boeing, Case No. 2:00-cv-00301, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington