Home Depot agrees to settle Colorado bias claims for $5.5 million

Wednesday, August 25th 2004, 2:39 pm

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ The Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement store chain, has agreed pay $5.5 million to settle discrimination claims brought by workers in Colorado, the company said Wednesday.

Current and former workers at Home Depots in Colorado had alleged that the company discriminated against them based on gender, race and nationality. Some also alleged that they were retaliated against for claiming discrimination.

Home Depot said it does not believe it engaged in any form of misconduct, but agreed to the payout as part of voluntary mediation with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

``The Home Depot is an equal opportunity employer and has a zero tolerance policy regarding discrimination,'' the Atlanta-based company said in a statement.

A company spokesman said the number of workers the settlement covers has not been determined. Roughly 5,000 of Home Depot's 300,000 employees work in Colorado.

Calls to the EEOC's Colorado regional office were not immediately returned.