ALBANY — With little notice and no fanfare, New York State seven years ago agreed to a $45 million settlement with nearly 5,000 current and former African-American and Hispanic state workers who had alleged in a federal lawsuit that the civil service tests they needed for promotions were racially biased.

While most members of the plaintiff class received their share of the payout, there are still about 1,000 people who have yet to collect.

The list of those who can collect on the lawsuit, Simpson v. NYS Civil Service Commission, was recently transferred from the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who maintains an unclaimed funds account.

People can see whether they have any money coming at a website maintained by the Comptroller.

The uncollected funds are the latest chapter in a story that dates back more than two decades to when state employee Merton Simpson lodged a complaint regarding a test that state workers took for promotions. That led to the federal lawsuit.

Simpson, now an Albany County legislator, said he was surprised that so many plaintiffs have never collected their money.

“Oh, boy — I didn’t think there were that many,” Simpson said, referring those who have gone unpaid. “I’m surprised.”

Average payouts ranged between $7,000 and $20,000 depending on the civil service grade of the plaintiff before and after the tests.

Some received more if they had lost their jobs due to low test scores.

Under New York's civil service system, people can be hired into the state workforce on a provisional basis before taking the required exams or tests. But they are supposed to pass the test in order to remain employed.

The 11 main plaintiffs or class representatives, including Simpson, were to receive more than $100,000 each.

Simpson himself lost his job after filing the suit.

According to court papers, his bosses at the state accused him of trying to get information to which he was not entitled in order to augment his complaint.

The tests in question, known as "promotion test batteries," were given between 1996 and 2006.

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The agreement was made at the end of Andrew Cuomo’s term as attorney general, before he took office as governor in 2011.

The state assumed no fault or liability, but agreed to pay $45 million over four years.

The annual payments of $11.25 million were to be split among 4,706 plaintiffs and their lawyers.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers, Michael Sussman of Goshen and Willie Gary of Stuart, Fla., had urged the plaintiffs to settle.

Shortly before the agreement, they wrote that the proposed settlement is "the best we can obtain. The alternative of reaching no agreement poses substantial litigation risks, the prospect of years of additional delay and no guarantee of a better result."

They also added that the state at the time was under "uncommon economic distress” due to the aftereffects of the 2008 recession.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU