Nation : GM Settles Black Pay Bias Suit

General Motors Corp. said today that it has reached a preliminary agreement to pay about 10,000 black salaried employees about $3 million to end a five-year class-action suit charging the auto maker with an unfair pay structure.

GM spokeswoman Patricia Malloy said the agreement covers current and former black salaried employees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana who claimed that they were denied pay raises and promotions. Former employees covered are those who worked for the auto maker between 1982 and 1986. GM estimated the cost of the preliminary settlement at $3 million, but the leading counsel for the plaintiffs said it could swell to as much as $40 million.