$26M Mastercard Settlement Aims to Resolve Lawsuit Over Employment Discrimination Claims

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A $26 million settlement has been reached with Mastercard that, if approved by the court, will resolve a proposed class and collective action lawsuit over allegations of sex-, gender-, race- and ethnicity-based employment discrimination.

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The proposed class and collective action lawsuit was filed this month by former Mastercard employees who alleged the company has treated female, Black and Hispanic workers less favorably than male or white employees in comparable positions with respect to compensation, leveling and promotions. According to the Mastercard lawsuit, the defendant’s allegedly discriminatory hiring practices violated the federal Equal Pay Act and Civil Rights Act and several city and state labor laws.

First, the proposed class and collective action settlement aims to cover anyone who identifies as a woman, who has not signed a separation agreement that includes a release of sex- or gender-based employment discrimination claims, and who was employed by Mastercard in any position in career levels 4 through 10 in the United States from the following dates (based on employment location):

• New York, from September 30, 2016;
• Virginia, from September 30, 2020;
• California, from September 30, 2018;
• Massachusetts, Washington or Colorado, from September 30, 2019; and
• All other states, from December 4, 2019.

Second, the proposed Mastercard settlement will cover anyone who identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic or Latino/a, who has not signed a separation agreement including a release of race- or ethnicity-based employment discrimination claims, and who was employed by the company in a position within the range listed above in the United States from the following dates:

• New York, from October 8, 2019;
• California, from September 30, 2018;
• Colorado, from September 30, 2019; and
• All other states, from December 4, 2019.

The plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion and memo detailing the terms of the agreement with Mastercard on January 14, 2025. The parties now await preliminary approval of the terms of the deal from a United States district judge in New York.

According to the plaintiffs’ memo, the class consists of approximately 7,500 individuals.

If the $26,000,000 Mastercard settlement is preliminarily approved by the court, class members will not need to take any action to receive a payout, the agreement relays.

ClassAction.org will update this page when the official Mastercard settlement website is launched.

As part of the deal, Mastercard will provide class members with a minimum payout of $100, the document says. After these payments are deducted from the settlement fund, the remaining amount will then be distributed based on a formula that accounts for the length of an individual’s employment at Mastercard, the agreement shares.

On top of issuing cash payments, the company has also agreed to take measures to review its hiring and promotion policies and ensure gender and race pay equity going forward, the settlement agreement adds.

If the deal receives initial court approval, class members can expect to receive notice of the settlement by mail or email within 30 days of the approval date, the memo states.

Did you know that some class action settlements require no proof to submit a claim? Check out the latest open class action settlements.