NYC settles $1M bridge painter sex bias suit

New York City Thursday agreed to pay $1 million to settle a sex discrimination suit brought over its failure to ever hire a single female bridge painter, and announced that it had broken the gender wall by hiring one of the plaintiffs.

The settlement will be divided equally among four women who U.S. District Judge William Pauley of Manhattan determined in May had been victims of unlawful discrimination designed to "preserve a de facto boys' club" at the city Department of Transportation's bridge painters unit.

Pauley said that back pay and job offers to the four women would be "appropriate" relief, and one of them - Efrosini Katanakis - became the city's first female provisional bridge painter in early September.

Katanakis did not return a call for comment, but U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office litigated the case on behalf of the four women, lauded the move.

"This month, for the first time in New York City history, a woman reported for work as a bridge painter," Bharara said in a statement. "This groundbreaking settlement will give her and the other victims the compensation they deserve for the discrimination they experienced."

The city law department, in a brief statement, claimed that the hiring of a woman was "not related" to the lawsuit or settlement, but said the Department of Transportation hopes it will pave the way for more women to pursue the job.

"DOT is committed to fair hiring practices, and we believe the settlement is in the best interest of all parties," the statement added.