Iowa’s state government agreed Monday to pay more than $1.6 million to settle 10 lawsuits, most dealing with hiring or promotion biases.

Seven of the settlements are related to cases that began more than a decade ago when dozens of state employees joined a class-action lawsuit accusing the state of engaging in illegal hiring or promotional practices.

While the class-action efforts were unsuccessful, individual lawsuits by 32 people who filed against the state proceeded. Most of them alleged racial bias by the state.

On Monday, the state agreed to pay $10,714 each to seven plaintiffs to settle the complaints they made against various state departments. The plaintiffs are: Mary Smith and Inger Hall, Department of Cultural Affairs; Charles Zanders, Iowa Communications Network; Michael Greene and Crawford Norwood, Iowa Department of Administrative Services; Mary Traywick, Iowa Workforce Development; and Terry Brown, Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Iowa paid $35,000 in 2013 to Sandra Brown and $125,000 last year to Violet LeFlore to settle claims the state failed to hire or promote them in Iowa Workforce Development.

Two of the 32 cases are still pending. The others have been dismissed or withdrawn.​​​​​​

​Also settled Monday: