A federal judge on Friday approved Bank of America's $39 million settlement of a gender discrimination lawsuit by female brokers over objections that the accord would enshrine bias on Wall Street. U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn, N.Y., called the settlement "in all respects, fair, reasonable, and adequate.'' The settlement, announced on Sept. 6, resolved claims on behalf of about 4,800 current and former female financial advisers that women were paid less than men, deprived of handling their fair share of lucrative accounts and faced retaliation if they complained.



Adam Jeffery | CNBC

It is separate from the bank's $160 million settlement with hundreds of black Merrill Lynch brokers who alleged racial bias in pay, promotions and how big accounts were allocated. Bank of America bought Merrill in January 2009. (Read more: Barclays fined over records failures) The gender bias accord also required Bank of America to hire an independent monitor to oversee improvements and a consultant to study how the bank "teams'' brokers. Policy improvements will remain in effect for three years. Some 75 female brokers, including named plaintiff Judy Calibuso, had in a Nov. 29 court filing objected to the "meager'' settlement amount and "weak programmatic relief.'' They claimed that approval would represent a "huge step backwards'' that would "enshrine'' and perpetuate discrimination by Merrill and its Wall Street rivals.