Sara Lee Foods Corporation and a group of its former employees announced today a comprehensive settlement of litigation now pending in federal court. Civil actions filed on behalf of 139 individual African-American former employees all concerned employment disputes related to a food processing plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including the closure of that facility in August of 2001.

An initial lawsuit filed by nine employees sought class action status alleging past acts of racial discrimination and hostile work environment conditions. Class certification in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was denied by United States Senior District Judge Lowell Reed, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear an appeal. Plaintiffs then individually filed separate lawsuits.

While these cases were pending, the plant was closed. This prompted further litigation including a new class action complaint alleging retaliation in the decision to close the plant. Plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Robert T. Vance, Jr. of Philadelphia, Stephen A. Whinston and Shanon J. Carson of Berger & Montague, P.C., Philadelphia, and Cynthia L. Butler, of Butler & Spears, Washington, D.C. Sara Lee Foods was represented by Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC attorneys William A. Blue, Jr., of Nashville, Frank B. Shuster and R. David Ware of Atlanta.

The settlement resulted from negotiations supervised by United States Magistrate Judge Linda K. Caracappa, and covers all pending cases. Specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but it was acknowledged that individual settlements did vary depending on employment tenure, filing as an original lead plaintiff, and other factors. The settlement of all 140 claims included a payment of $3.5 million dollars together with a complete dismissal of the retaliation class action complaint.

On behalf of plaintiffs, attorneys Vance and Whinston noted their satisfaction with the final settlement. "We are pleased that we have reached a fair and amicable settlement. The plaintiffs are now able to move forward with their lives and focus on their futures," said Vance.

William A. Geoppinger, chief executive officer of Sara Lee Foods, said, "Sara Lee Foods is committed to a workplace free from any form of harassment or discrimination." Geoppinger emphasized that the decision to close the Philadelphia plant was based purely on business factors, and that the company would not knowingly tolerate harassment of any kind.

Sara Lee Foods manufactures and markets a variety of food products and packaged meat products, including breakfast sausage, deli meats, hot dogs, meat snacks and smoked sausage.