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NEW YORK (AFX) - Verizon Communications Inc. will pay $48.9 million to settle charges that its predecessor companies Nynex and Bell Atlantic discriminated against employees who were pregnant or on maternity leave, regulators said Monday.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Monday it submitted a final report to U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday that indicated the total compensation paid so far under the settlement was $25.3 million.
The EEOC said it also expects an additional $23.6 million will be paid in future pension benefits under the terms of the settlement.
Verizon entered into a consent decree in 2002 that resolved employment-discrimination lawsuits filed by the EEOC in 1997 and in 1999 against Bell Atlantic and Nynex.
The EEOC had alleged that the companies denied female employees service credit related to pregnancy and maternity leave taken between July 1965 and April 1979 and leaves for care of newborn children taken between July 1965 and December 1983.
The settlement cover 12,326 current and former female employees in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
A Verizon spokesman didn't immediately have a comment on Monday. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
