J&J Managers Seek Class-action Status: Workers say company discriminated against blacks, Hispanics

Johnson & Johnson discriminated against black and Hispanic managers and other salaried employees, lawyers told a judge today in a bid to pursue a group lawsuit alleging bias in pay and promotions at the company.

Lawyers for the workers asked U.S. District Judge William Walls in Newark today to grant their claims class- action status. Johnson & Johnson denied that it discriminated and will ask Walls to reject the bid, which would give as many as 8,600 current and former employees more leverage to negotiate a settlement.

''Johnson & Johnson has systematically discriminated against African American and Hispanic salaried workers in the United States through common employment policies and practices emanating from the top level of the corporation," lawyers for four former employees who sued in 2001 argued in court papers.

The case could cost Johnson & Johnson tens of millions of dollars to settle if Walls certifies the class. Plaintiffs' attorney Cyrus Mehri won settlements of $192.5 million from Coca-Cola Co. in 2001 and $176 million from Texaco Inc. in 1997 in race-bias lawsuits, the fourth- and fifth-largest in such cases, according to data complied by Bloomberg.

The plaintiffs claim pay discrimination against Hispanic employees, and both pay and promotion bias against blacks.