B&H Foto and Electronics Corp. has agreed to pay $4.3 million to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint alleging the company violated federal law by discriminating against Hispanic workers.

The EEOC's lawsuit, filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleged that B&H paid Hispanic workers in its warehouses less than non-Hispanic workers and failed to promote them or provide them health benefits based on their national origin.

Under the settlement, the company agrees to equalize the wages of Hispanic employees to their non-Hispanic coworkers and to work with the EEOC in a claims process to distribute $4.3 million in monetary relief to individuals who the agency says were paid less, not promoted, or denied benefits because they are Hispanic.

"We commend B&H for working cooperatively with us to resolve this matter without protracted litigation," says EEOC New York Trial Attorney Louis Graziano. "We encourage other employers to follow B&H's example of resolving this case expeditiously and in good faith."