A lawsuit charging mammoth drugstore chain Walgreens with racial discrimination has been settled. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the charges, and EEOC chair Naomi C. Earp announced on Friday a $20 million proposed consent decree resolving the systemic race discrimination lawsuit. 

The proposed settlement was filed with U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy of the Southern District of Illinois, with a request for his preliminary approval. The EEOC suit alleged that Walgreens had discriminated against African American retail management and pharmacy employees in promotion, compensation and assignment. In addition to monetary relief for an estimated 10,000 class members, the consent decree prohibits store assignments based on race.  

The decree is subject to final approval by Judge Murphy. 

“We commend Walgreens for working cooperatively with us to reach an amicable settlement of this case without protracted litigation,” Earp said. “We believe this is a satisfactory resolution for all parties.” 

This is hardly the first time such allegations have been made against Walgreens: A lawsuit alleging similar claims was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in June 2005 on behalf of fourteen Walgreens’ employees by Foland, Wickens, Eisfelder, Roper & Hofer, Kansas City, Mo.; Spriggs Law Firm, Tallahassee, Fla.; and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, Oakland, Calif.

In fact, the Friday settlement represents closure for both cases, which were consolidated earlier this year.