Home Depot Hiring Supervision Lifted

A U.S. judge ended court supervision of Home Depot Inc.’s employment practices after more than four years, finding “enthusiastic” compliance with the settlement of a sex discrimination class-action lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston lifted a consent decree requiring the world’s largest home-improvement retailer to boost the number of women it hires for higher-level store jobs. The judge said she ended the order more than a year early because the Atlanta-based company is meeting its goals.

The $87.5-million accord ended a class-action bias suit that claimed women were more likely to get cashier jobs than sales jobs at Home Depot stores, which made it harder for them to win promotions to supervisor or manager positions. In addition to paying $65 million to about 6,000 female employees and ex-employees, the company agreed to change its hiring practices.

Home Depot shares rose $1 to $36.67 on the NYSE.