American Express to Pay $31 Million in Suit

American Express Co. said it agreed to pay $31 million to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit, becoming the latest big financial firm to settle allegations it treated women unfairly.

The firm’s money management unit, American Express Financial Advisors Inc., also agreed to name a diversity officer and start mandatory diversity training for financial advisors, a company spokeswoman said.

By 2005, the spokeswoman said, the company has agreed to increase its hiring of women to 32% of all new financial advisors. Currently, about a quarter of the company’s 11,500 financial advisors are women, the spokeswoman said.

Employees of the firm had alleged that they were denied equal pay and promotions.

In recent years, other big financial firms, including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc.’s Salomon Smith Barney unit, have settled discrimination lawsuits filed on behalf of female employees.